tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015Thu, 24 May 2018 10:54:48 +0000bloggingblogmootCovenHealthTrading TatianarefugeesDepth ChargeMy blogblogsdadtechologyEl Tercer NombreThe Gene PoolWise fishfamilyhungry fishno fish todaypovertyprostitution racketsreviewstechno toysunaccompanied children529 very confused fish7 baby fishA bagelA brief whelk-omeA fish by any other nameA net worksA post that really is about fishAfro DonzAll fish are wet so what exactly are wet fish?AmazonAn easy fish to catch with baited breathAnarchists Against LabelsAnother plaice and thymeApoplectic fishAppleAquatic gilled organismsBarking fishBarracudaBasking sharkBetaBig fish gobbling up little fishBig round iron gefilte fishballs.Bleeding fishBlogfishBlushing fishCailleachCarping onCaviar and champagne should be served but they won't beCodessComrade fishCrab grabCrabbyCritical fishCusp of the year fishCussing fishDIY fishDab breamDanuta KeanDe Nada NirvanaDeep Sea JivingDefinitely fishyDelusional fishDid Noah's Narrative Ark have fish in it?Did you know that oily fish are an uber food?Dolphins (They're not fish but they do click. Geddit?)Dolphins are volunteering for the circus skillsDon't be so silly - fish can't run. They're entering the triathlon though and I have no idea how they'll manage the running part. Swimming and bike riding will be fine though. Obviously.Don't talk to the fish about damp. They won't understandDrivingElderly fishElderly pirranha would probably appreciate access to denturesExtraordinary fishFairtradeFar far away across the seaFascism should not be confused with fishism of courseFilled with soleFilleted fishFish and any book at all are an unlikely combination anywhere except for my labels boxFish and chips on the pierFish brainsFish clapping their little fins in glee and gratitudeFish dishFish dressed as roeFish falling about laughing but splurting water not coffeeFish neither smoke pipes nor wear slippers - only dogs do thatFish on RyeFish squatting in my labels boxFish with huge buttsFish with no fingers but lots of thumbsFishing for SharonFishing for complimentsFour-eyed fishFrantic fishFreaky fishFreshwater fishFriendly kissy fishFrolicking fishGiddy fishGlobal warmingGood Cod AlmightyGrumpy old troutGushing fish have elevated Frank to the status of a demi-codGutted Swedish herringHalf FishHomeless Chicken - a cold fish but only on the outsideHopeful fishHuman fishHyper fish swimming in a caffeinated stream of consciousnessHyperactive fishI bet fish don't feel like this about their roeI have other fish to fryI love SpainI might think about starting a fishional blogI wonder what fish think about?I'm a fish out of water at these eventsI'm a small fish in a very big pondI'm feeling eelI'm not sure but I have a suspicion that the fish might be getting a bit bored with the constraints of this labels boxIf fish cried salt water the seas would overflowIf fish had legs I suppose their stockings would be fishnetsIslamophobiaIt's a silly fish who's caught twice in the same netIzzy Wizzy FishJaJohn and a BombLabel FishLabels shmabelsLemon SoleLimp fishLitblogging fishLittle bitty fishy wishyLittle fish talking to big fishLittles Fish is representing his school this pm in the borough swimming gala. Go LG.Lokshen soup for Dina to go with the gefilte fishLondon MarathonLong-tailed fishLucky he had the best sturgeonMabel the label says helloMany fish caught in the same net workMany fish fingers make light workMartin MillarMeMerkan fishMixed fish platterMonkfishMumMussels – do you get the connection?Mystery WomenNetting the deal for yourselfNile perchNirvana BitesNo fish but lots of salt waterNow this is what the fish call a real postOMeGa fish OMG OMG OMGOrganic fishOut of the mouths of small fishOverfeeding fish is not good for them y'knowPaellaPaltry little roachPhoenix fishPleasantly surprised and ever so slightly smug fishPollocks ( re blog appearance not John's poem)Priceless fishRed HerringRefugeRock fish and rollRotten fishSalmon chanted eveningSarah MaySelf-suffishentShame the fish will be by the sea that dayShoally notShore thingSing us a tunaSitembileSkintSmall fry are more adept at converting flat fish into a DVD tower than their parents who accept their inadequacy due to their zen-like stateSmoked fish like the bashment but not the catSo much better than a slap in the face with a wet fishSolid Gold FishSquids inSticklebackStill angry fishSushiSwim with the tideTen little fishThe Da Vinci CodThe Shellfish GeneThe fish are deep in debate about the relative merits of writing over mountaineering.The fish are fighting panic attacksThe fish are grateful to the VW owners for this: When the government fears the peopleThe fish are nervous about the penguinsThe fish are not aloneThe fish are still waving at DinaThe fish are triumphant having made it into the post title for a changeThe fish are wearing sequins which could easily be mistaken for scalesThe fish are wondering how I think I can get away with this.The fish get their passion fruit dessertsThe fish have been well and truly hooked lined and sinkeredThe fish have serious reservations about the 6' tall catThe fish kept a low profile throughoutThe fish kept well out of the wayThe fish may be old but he hasn't lost his sense of humourThe fish never thought they'd have cause to be grateful for their son's dyslexiaThe fish protest . The blog author is well aware that fish don't have thumbs. When thispoint was made to her she replied 'Oh so are you up in arms then?' and rolled on the floor laughing.The fish refuse to comment on this indication of the inhumanity of humansThe fish say live and let liverThe fish say that shooting a zillion volts of electricity into a diabetic with a hypo could well have led to a heart attackThe fish say there IS such a thing as a good virusThe fish say there should be a Sea Hour tooThe fish say we humans are living in a very strange world indeedThe fish should be very grateful they don't have kneesThe fish that got awayThe fish will admit they wondered whether this day would ever arriveThe fish will gladly make way for the ducks on this occasionThe fish would have been in their elementThe return of the pipe fishThe revenge of the wronged fishThe wrong fishThere are plenty of fish in the sea but some are more specialThere is no digital equivalent of a fishThere's a fish. And there's another. And another ...This catfish is barkingThis is very fishy indeedThis is the ideal post for my fishy friendsThoughtful fishTime magazineTitlesUnder water no one can see you cryUsing the words fish and net in the same post is a very bad ideaWell it made the fish laughWet fishWhales from WalesWhat are all those fish doing in my front room?What would happen if you crossed the DNA of a donkey with that of a fish ...Whelk-ome to KazWritingYouTube\oily fish are high in Omega 3 and can be bought from a fishmingera writer's plaiceactive fish say actions are better than words so speak then actan egg and a piece of herring are traditional foods eaten by mourners - to remind us of the circle of life and to symbolise the salt of tearsanimal rightsassertive fishawardsbattered fishbe careful how you talk about this fish dishbenefitsblaggerblah blah blah said the little fishbland fishblind cave-dwelling fishbloggerbrittle boned fishbugger but no fishbusy fishbutterfly fishcatfishclickclown fishclue - nothing to do with fish at allcodswallopcoming next - submarines for your fishcompetitionsconcussed fishdepleted fish stocks in a polluted seadisabilitydogfishdolphins click and so do wedomestic violencedrained and strained fishdreamy fishecstatic fisheducated fisheven the fish are unable to resist the G-forceeventsfalling fishfar flung fishfestivalsfin king fishfink of a fish ... any fish ...fish and humbled piefish attempting to negotiate a swimming path through a world wide weedy webfish basking in reflected glory at having such amazing bloggy friendsfish cakefish cakesfish dancing and clapping their fins in delightfish dancing and clapping their little fins in delightfish fayrefish fingersfish flying tonightfish gasping through lack of oxygenfish in search of good karmafish in shoalsfish in the deep freezefish lost in spacefish of lightfish on tourfish out of waterfish sandwichfish scratching their headsfish soupfish soup is back on the menufish tipping the scalesfish with glazed eyes - bad sign if you're a fish ...fish with scary biscuitsfish with steam coming out of their gillsfish with their eyes wide open and not only because they don't have eyelids but because they're thoughtful and aware fish as you must know by nowfishfestfishing polefishing pollflowery fishflying fishforever young fishforgiveness is mine sayeth the carrie fishfree fishfree fish with no catchfried fishfrozen fishfrozen fish shivering in icy watersfrozen fish with strawberry saucefruity fishfunky fishgefilte fish for Dinagefilte fish should be made from carp which is appropriate since I seem to be doing a lot of carping on these daysghoti with grateful acknowledgement to George Bernard Seashore via G and G at the Vapoursgigging fishgiggly fishgin-soaked fishgone fishin'green fishhappy fish of courseheadless fishhoney and a fish head are all traditional at this timehorizontal fishhot fishhow many times do the fish have to tell you they hate labels?how's that for effishency?iced fishilliterate fishimpressed fishinner fishjellyfish and ice breamjournalismkicking fishkidslighting candles underwater presents a serious problem for Jewish fishlike fish to waterlion fish is a powerful speciman though underwater no one can hear you roarliterary eventslittle fishlittle fish swimming against the tidelook how much the fish's hair has grown ...lucky fish of coursemedallions of fish holding flippers across the oceanmein herringmighty powerful little fishmootmulti-talented fishnaive fish in need of guidance and protectionno codswallop to be found hereno fish herenostalgic fishnot remotely connected to fishnot such small frynothing fishy hereordinary fish in extraordinary circumstancesparty fishparty pooped fishpescado platophishpipefishpirranhapoetrypretty witty fishproud fishpublicitypublishingpuff fishquality fish - sushi maybe?regal fishrejectionrich fish used to eat the poor fish but now the rich are getting poorer and everyone's confusedridiculous looking fish trying to pretend it's fine reallyrockin' fishrocking fishrunningsardinesscary hairy fishschoolssea fansectioned fishsexy fishshark baitsharksshorely shomeshing fishyshort order fishshort storiesshort story compshrinking fishshy fishsick fishsilly billy fishy wishyskipjack tunaslippery fishsmoked fishsome very big fish will be involvedsour fishsparkly fishspeechless fishspittingspitting fishstalking fishstar fishstarfishstatisticsstinky fishsweaty fishsweaty fish thrashing round in a media maelstromsweet fishswim away swim away swim awayswimming against the tidetalking fish of coursetechy challenged fishthe fish approve of this onethe fish are demanding acrylic dresses to wear to the press launchthe fish are flabbergasted at the stupidity of the human race.the fish are having problems with lateral thinking todaythe fish are loading up their slingshotsthe fish are passionate about this subjectthe fish are struggling to keep their heads above water which may be where they've been going wrong all these yearsthe fish are too knackered from trekking across London in record breaking humidity to think of anything witty for the labels boxthe fish are waving not drowning but it's a close thingthe fish could do with some tranquilisers themselvesthe fish don't know whether to laugh or tremblethe fish don't mind a bit of rainwater but this is too much even for themthe fish feel like virtual bestsellers after this little reality checkthe fish find this camera to be tiresome in the extremethe fish want to know where all the time has gonethe fish will be hooked on this onethere is liberty. When the people fear the governmentthere is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)there really is a fish called a lion fish. Honest. I ain't lion ....thousand of tiny fish gathered together into a mighty shoal can make a real differencetoo serious for fish jokestrembling fishtropical fish swimming in an azure sea but those were troubled watersun fin king fishunderwater travelurban fishvery angry and frustrated fishvery very cross fish who have ground their fishy teeth to stubs and still achieved zilchvery very happy fishwar of the fishy worlds being waged down here in the labels boxwaving finswe'd be better off with the fish taking overwe're only minnows but together we make one massive shoalwebwhat's the point of these labels?who killed the fish?who needs fish when you have a sphinx/blogger combo?workingworth their weight in goldfishx-ray-ted fishyou'd never get the fish to wear uniformDebi AlperAuthor of contemporary urban thrillers, freelance editor, mentor and creative writing tutor.http://debialper.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Debi)Blogger819125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-2394401452171763897Tue, 21 Nov 2017 14:15:00 +00002017-11-21T14:15:46.556+00:00Stories for Homes 2 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21617823_1422724654501687_1357151689176110032_n.jpg?oh=e906672364a3ace8007389bc0582635b&amp;oe=5A89B1AF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21617823_1422724654501687_1357151689176110032_n.jpg?oh=e906672364a3ace8007389bc0582635b&amp;oe=5A89B1AF" width="207" /></a></div><br />The story behind the stories: 256 anonymised submissions, all on the theme of 'Home'. 55 stories chosen (with great difficulty!) for the anthology.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/17966445_1523514157680762_5520035652305852533_o.jpg?oh=bfc0cabf4afd11cb94c5eda71b0d9948&amp;oe=5A93A4AC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/17966445_1523514157680762_5520035652305852533_o.jpg?oh=bfc0cabf4afd11cb94c5eda71b0d9948&amp;oe=5A93A4AC" width="320" /></a></div><br />Another 29 <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/the-online-anthology/">published free on our website</a>.<br /><br />And, now after many, many hours of hard work by our team of committed volunteers ... <br /><br />... I'm more than delighted to share the news that the paperback launch for Stories for Homes 2 is TODAY!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/23592269_10156451069111002_5975484484102452114_o.jpg?oh=081d06b010072fb1814e82bf798a0fe9&amp;oe=5A9DB13C" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="160" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/23592269_10156451069111002_5975484484102452114_o.jpg?oh=081d06b010072fb1814e82bf798a0fe9&amp;oe=5A9DB13C" width="320" /></a></div><br />See an interview I did with Retreat West <a href="https://www.retreatwest.co.uk/stories-for-homes-2/">here</a>.<br /><br />Check out our forthcoming events <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/events-2/">here</a>.<br /><br />And, in case you need any persuasion, this is why we're committed to doing something about the housing crisis.<br /><br />* According to <a href="http://www.shelter.org.uk/">Shelter</a>, 65,000 families will be homeless this Christmas.<br /> * At least one more family becomes homeless in Britain EVERY TEN MINUTES.<br /> * There are 250,000 homeless people in England. That's a quarter of a million!<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> * 300,000+ in Britain.<br /> * In the worst hit areas, 1 in 25 people are homeless.<br /> * Last year, the lowest number of socially rented homes were built in 71 years. 71 YEARS!<br /> * Tory austerity is linked to 120,000 deaths, according to <a href="http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/11/e017722">a study in BMJ Open</a> (medical journal).</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23755607_1758952194136956_669428966085186541_n.jpg?oh=c06e8a608740a15dcb0aabfda9ba36fd&amp;oe=5A96F9B6" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23755607_1758952194136956_669428966085186541_n.jpg?oh=c06e8a608740a15dcb0aabfda9ba36fd&amp;oe=5A96F9B6" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">The </span>devastating <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=warnings+about+Grenfell+&amp;ie=utf-8&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;client=firefox-b-ab&amp;gfe_rd=cr&amp;ei=ikdQWeb4O9CN8QeS273AAQ">tragedy of Grenfell Tower should never have happened</a>. That's why we dedicated this book to the victims and survivors of the Grenfell fire.<br /><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/stories-for-homes-1/">SfH1</a> raised over £3000 for Shelter. This is a photo from our previous launch. We eventually doubled the figure in that dummy cheque! You can still buy the first anthology <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-J-Ironside/dp/1493534246/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=A3KJ4PZ8HDK16K88P2Y4">here</a>.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18274863_1549233751775469_8573871440745522954_n.jpg?oh=0b7b23515c6e05891efc26e236c9af59&amp;oe=5A9E43DD" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="800" height="228" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18274863_1549233751775469_8573871440745522954_n.jpg?oh=0b7b23515c6e05891efc26e236c9af59&amp;oe=5A9E43DD" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">Read more about the project <a href="http://www.jacquelineward.co.uk/jel/introducing-stories-for-homes/">here</a>, in a blog by the wonderful Jel, who has been doing sterling work with promoting the anthology. The gorgeous cover was designed by <a href="http://www.headandheartpublishingservices.com/">Head and Heart</a>, featuring an original artwork by my co-editor, Sally Swingewood.&nbsp;</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23658873_1758956507469858_3097928415545756592_n.jpg?oh=d23f63c65d01b0ee9a4e72775c55c8d2&amp;oe=5AAA6670" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23658873_1758956507469858_3097928415545756592_n.jpg?oh=d23f63c65d01b0ee9a4e72775c55c8d2&amp;oe=5AAA6670" width="320" /></a></div><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show">As before, all this has only been possible thanks to our fabulous team of volunteers. Their unpaid hard work means that every penny raised goes direct to Shelter.&nbsp;</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CImJG4MP-Kk/WhQuxCxIkYI/AAAAAAAAIcI/bDazu5Z6xAsedQrVLB6HhihEtpsPtGaLQCLcBGAs/s1600/Proudly_Supporting_Shelter_RoW_logo%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1600" height="80" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CImJG4MP-Kk/WhQuxCxIkYI/AAAAAAAAIcI/bDazu5Z6xAsedQrVLB6HhihEtpsPtGaLQCLcBGAs/s200/Proudly_Supporting_Shelter_RoW_logo%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">Access to a safe and secure home is a human right – one that thousands of people are denied in 21st century Britain. This world class anthology is a good deed in a very naughty world. Thanks so much for your support. Together, we can make a difference. </span>http://debialper.blogspot.com/2017/11/stories-for-homes-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-5921460575631870021Sat, 16 Sep 2017 11:33:00 +00002017-09-16T12:59:50.000+00:00Fow17 In photos - and a shout out for Stories for HomesAnother brilliant year in York for the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/festivalofwriting2017.html">8th Festival of Writing</a> and I now have the distinction and pleasure of being one of only three people who have been to every single one.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p206x206/21430534_1679554365410073_2980182603404643352_n.jpg?oh=24d4f27f36a18fb01295e1ff1c52f7ed&amp;oe=5A56511B" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="366" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p206x206/21430534_1679554365410073_2980182603404643352_n.jpg?oh=24d4f27f36a18fb01295e1ff1c52f7ed&amp;oe=5A56511B" width="320" /></a></div><br />As well as running the self-edit mini course, a Voice workshop ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21430216_1682010275164482_2862070689257633307_n.jpg?oh=d8c2467dc9423f584e536f79b9ec4b27&amp;oe=5A5BEFDB" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21430216_1682010275164482_2862070689257633307_n.jpg?oh=d8c2467dc9423f584e536f79b9ec4b27&amp;oe=5A5BEFDB" width="320" /></a></div><br />... chairing the literary genre panel ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21432951_1682010311831145_5291560049331453168_n.jpg?oh=1781f2e88e3849fa90102b1a0e8c7dba&amp;oe=5A484DAE" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21432951_1682010311831145_5291560049331453168_n.jpg?oh=1781f2e88e3849fa90102b1a0e8c7dba&amp;oe=5A484DAE" width="320" /></a></div><br />... chairing the final keynote address and doing two hours of Book Doctor sessions (this is the view from my Book Doctor desk) ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21616516_1682010338497809_8883572835345401201_n.jpg?oh=13481c914721e8adf7e2077b3134d598&amp;oe=5A42BE56" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21616516_1682010338497809_8883572835345401201_n.jpg?oh=13481c914721e8adf7e2077b3134d598&amp;oe=5A42BE56" width="320" /></a></div><br />&nbsp;... I devised a new workshop this year.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21432757_1682010761831100_6094342191072044510_n.jpg?oh=20262f017a1c39ff1492d1893f65922c&amp;oe=5A40E700" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21432757_1682010761831100_6094342191072044510_n.jpg?oh=20262f017a1c39ff1492d1893f65922c&amp;oe=5A40E700" width="320" /></a></div><br />The idea for Facing the Fear came as a result of the responses to <a href="https://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/facing-down-fear.html">this blog post</a>, where I had a conversation with the Doubt Demons. This photo is of people struggling to find the love for themselves.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21616064_1682010725164437_5857376766256911674_n.jpg?oh=a0a7019ffe2200f49fd0bfeb0a40cb90&amp;oe=5A5245FB" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21616064_1682010725164437_5857376766256911674_n.jpg?oh=a0a7019ffe2200f49fd0bfeb0a40cb90&amp;oe=5A5245FB" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><br /><br />And in this one, they're sharing that love with each other.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21462526_1682010791831097_4131905695510248195_n.jpg?oh=8a93274b5e09b45caca599fd068e08ff&amp;oe=5A506B5C" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21462526_1682010791831097_4131905695510248195_n.jpg?oh=8a93274b5e09b45caca599fd068e08ff&amp;oe=5A506B5C" width="320" /></a></div><br />Tha gala dinner rocked, as ever. This will be the last year in which <a href="http://www.jounwin.co.uk/portfolio/mandy-berriman/">Mandy Berriman</a>, my wonderful friend and mentee, is at the festie as an unpublished author. Her stunning novel, <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/transworld-acquires-primary-school-teachers-hometime-debut-479871">Home, will be published next February</a> and I couldn't be more delighted and excited. John Taylor and I are two of the three people who have been to every FoW.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21462827_1682010231831153_7845379557432479938_n.jpg?oh=eea03da2aa91008f67a5db9f4b6fc0f9&amp;oe=5A5F28BA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21462827_1682010231831153_7845379557432479938_n.jpg?oh=eea03da2aa91008f67a5db9f4b6fc0f9&amp;oe=5A5F28BA" width="320" /></a></div><br />Lovely to share a table with literary lovelies, <a href="http://andrewnurnberg.com/book-author/deborah-install/">Deborah Install</a> and <a href="https://www.torudall.com/">Tor Udall</a>, who were also both on the platform for the final keynote address. Both credit FoW for setting them on their journey to publication, having met their dream agent, <a href="http://andrewnurnberg.com/team-member/jenny-savill/">Jenny Savill</a>, at York<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21462671_1682010358497807_4472782419517606859_n.jpg?oh=17e877b5c829714ae82b0dddf13f9955&amp;oe=5A5994AB" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21462671_1682010358497807_4472782419517606859_n.jpg?oh=17e877b5c829714ae82b0dddf13f9955&amp;oe=5A5994AB" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21463329_1682010541831122_4653742273965261755_n.jpg?oh=d5a245b45ba2b528f9f194d8fa6f22d9&amp;oe=5A5221EE" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21463329_1682010541831122_4653742273965261755_n.jpg?oh=d5a245b45ba2b528f9f194d8fa6f22d9&amp;oe=5A5221EE" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Massive congratulations to <a href="http://www.sophiesnell.co.uk/">Sophie Snell</a>, who won Friday Night Live, and <a href="http://rubyspeechley.com/">Ruby Speechley</a>, who won the Opening Chapter competition, as well as being runner up for Pitch Perfect. That's Ruby at the mike, with agent <a href="http://mmbcreative.com/agency/">Sallyanne Sweeney</a>, who judged the Opening Chapter comp, on the left.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21558686_1682010615164448_7800868279159901663_n.jpg?oh=a1326be917f2ac69ea7aff9dde8a9651&amp;oe=5A4658F8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21558686_1682010615164448_7800868279159901663_n.jpg?oh=a1326be917f2ac69ea7aff9dde8a9651&amp;oe=5A4658F8" width="320" /></a></div><br />And here's the traditional photo of <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a> and yours truly, with our self-edit alumni who had made it to York. We keep adding new names to our <a href="https://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/self-edit-course-roll-of-honour.html">Hall of Fame</a>. Details of the next online self-edit courses will be appearing <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/courses/self-editing-your-novel-6-weeks-online-course.html">here</a>. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21430533_1682010648497778_2716017198474421728_n.jpg?oh=35d697efe27be4e2c2a5b029fec2c0b3&amp;oe=5A125992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21430533_1682010648497778_2716017198474421728_n.jpg?oh=35d697efe27be4e2c2a5b029fec2c0b3&amp;oe=5A125992" width="320" /></a></div><br />While I'm here (and we all know how scarce I am on my blog these days) I want to talk briefly about <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a>. Remember the amazing success <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Amanda-Block-ebook/dp/B00E8767XU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1505560463&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=stories+for+homes">we had last time, when we published our world-class anthology </a>and raised over £3000 for <a href="http://www.shelter.org.uk/">Shelter</a>? Well, we're doing it all again and this time the book is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenfell_Tower_fire">Grenfell Tower fire</a>. I'm sure no one here needs to be reminded of how acute the housing crisis is in the UK and the causes of the tragedy, as well as the response since, highlight just how appalling life is for the most vulnerable people in our society. The fire happened three months ago and, at this point, there are still no firm figures for the number of people who died ('about 80') and only two families have been permanently re-housed.<br /><br />This time, Sally Swingewood and I received 256 submissions for the anthology, which we had to whittle down to 55. Damn, but that was hard. So hard, in fact, we decided to also publish an <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/the-online-anthology/">online anthology</a>, where people can read free stories on the theme of 'home'. The website has been spruced up, with tabs for <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/real-life-stories/">Real Life stories</a> and <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/stories-from-the-front-line/">posts by a professional</a> who works with homeless people, as well as the online stories and a donate button that goes direct to Shelter. Once again, producing an anthology at this standard has only been possible thanks to our wonderful SfH community, who have generously given their time and skills to create a world-class anthology.<br /><br />The e-book is due to be launched on 28 September, with the paperback following in November. This is when we'll start to make serious money for Shelter. Please keep an eye on the <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/news/">news tab</a> on the site. Meanwhile, we want to spread the word and get the hashtag #SfH2 trending. Please help us to make that happen by <a href="https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/61633-stories-for-homes">supporting our Thunderclap</a>, as well as publicising (and buying!) the anthology. http://debialper.blogspot.com/2017/09/fow17-in-photos-and-shout-out-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-1840796557442036935Wed, 05 Apr 2017 15:37:00 +00002017-04-05T15:37:18.843+00:00In which I try to find the words ...Towards the end of last year, a Bad Thing happened to me and my family. It wasn't a Very, <i>Very</i> Bad Thing - no one died, we didn't lose our home or our income but, nevertheless, it was a Thing that caused us great pain and stress, and it rocked our faith in human nature.<br /><br />I'm not going to go into detail here about the Thing, though I intend to at some point in order to warn others. The Thing was very negative and this post is the opposite of that. I won't allow it to taint this space. I don't like spreading negativity - there's more than enough of it online and in the real world - and so I haven't said anything in public about the Bad Thing before now. Only those closest to me knew about it.<br /><br />At the lowest point in the last five months, I turned to G and said, 'I've always thought things happen for a reason. We're in the middle of this right now and have no perspective beyond it but a point will come when we'll look back and say, Ah, so <i>that's</i> what all that was about.'<br /><br />How right I was, though I never expected the answer to come so soon and I could never, in my wildest dreams, have anticipated the form it would take. Without my knowledge, those few people who knew about the Thing - some of whom had never met each other - got together to start thinking about ways they could turn the Bad Thing around, support us in a practical way and, most importantly, restore our faith in human nature. They came up with an audacious plan to start a Crowdfunding campaign. Knowing me as they do, they agreed it was vital to keep the plan a secret from me because I would have vetoed it. Not because I'd be ungrateful (how could I possibly be?) but because the very idea would make me squirm with discomfort.<br /><br />By the time I knew it was happening, donations were well into four figures. I sat staring at my laptop, struggling to breathe, trying to process what I was seeing. What had me gasping for breath the most was not so much the gob-smacking amount that had been raised but the comments people had left. I was reading the sorts of things usually said about someone after they've died, when everyone says what a shame it is that they never knew people cared so much for them. And here I was, alive and very much kicking, the recipient of an outpouring of love and generosity that knocked me sideways. I was way beyond my comfort zone and had no idea how I was supposed to be, or act, or even feel. Words - the raw material of my trade - escaped me or took refuge in clich<span data-dobid="hdw">é</span>. The only way I could cope was to pretend it wasn't happening. I asked the inner circle to pass on a request not to link to me, while worrying that it might look like I was taking it all for granted. But the one thing I was certain about was that it was really important for me not to appear in any way as if I was soliciting on my own behalf.<br /><br />By the end of the campaign, 171 people had donated, leaving comments that made my eyes stream and my heart soar. (See? Not possible without resorting to clich<span data-dobid="hdw">é</span>s.) Many chose to be anonymous and I will never know who they - you - are. I wanted to contact everyone and thank them personally but it felt somehow wrong when there were so many I can't identify.<br /><br />So I hope no one will consider it lazy if I give a huge collective <span style="font-size: x-large;">&nbsp;</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">THANK YOU <span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">here to each and every one of you. Please imagine me looking into your eyes and holding your hands and telling you how you have touched my heart. I hope that everyone this applies to will see this at some point.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">One person was responsible for the Bad Thing. 171 of you have counter-balanced that negativity with a tidal wave of love. If life is all about making a difference, then you all win at life. And I win because I know all of you. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think it's appropriate to end by quoting my dad. I once remarked when out with him that he always chatted with everyone he encountered: in shops, banks, on the street.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 'I like to think that when I meet someone, they go away feeling a little better than before,' he replied.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thank you all for being like Daddy Alper.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/304715_454189851279870_1501324400_n.jpg?oh=e947104b9d070d13aeaf28e31923ffe0&amp;oe=599B6415" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/304715_454189851279870_1501324400_n.jpg?oh=e947104b9d070d13aeaf28e31923ffe0&amp;oe=599B6415" width="242" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span><br /><br /><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2017/04/in-which-i-try-to-find-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-7393445024337073783Tue, 27 Dec 2016 14:50:00 +00002016-12-27T14:50:36.965+00:00The Nirvanans are back!This has been quite the year, hasn't it. For so many people, it's been filled with shock and grief on a national and international scale and I have to admit I've had some tricky personal challenges too.<br /><br />But there have also been things to celebrate and that's what I'm trying to focus on. I ran 4 more online <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Courses/Self-Editing-Your-Novel-6-Weeks-Online-Course.html?page=Self-Editing">Self-Edit Your Novel courses</a>, together with <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a>, taking the total to 21 courses and 239 alumni. The <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/self-edit-course-roll-of-honour.html">Hall of Fame</a> for our graduates is getting crowded. I started <a href="https://www.facebook.com/singeasychoir/about/">singing in a choir</a> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biycwLhnQEA&amp;feature=youtu.be">video here</a>) and discovered a love for mudlarking, inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/TideLineArt">this wonderful woman</a>. In the face of the housing crisis, Sally Swingewood and I decided it was time to create another <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Amanda-Block-ebook/dp/B00E8767XU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Stories for Homes</a> anthology. (<a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/stories-for-homes-making-difference.html">The last one</a> raised mucho dosho for <a href="http://www.shelter.org.uk/">Shelter</a>, as well as being the launchpad for several authors who have gone on to achieve great things.) Details of how to submit are <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/news/">here</a>. Join <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/454745561280266/?hc_location=ufi">our community on Facebook</a>, where you can find out all the ways you can get involved. <br /><br />On Mayday, I published <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Amanda-Block-ebook/dp/B00E8767XU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">De Nada Nirvana</a> - my first new (though written over a decade ago) novel to be available to readers since 2005. And on 20 December, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Me-John-Bomb-Nirvana-Book-ebook/dp/B01N2W2IQG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Me, John and a Bomb</a> exploded onto the scene. This novel was written in 2004-5 - a time when chequebooks and cards were still a thing, it was announced in July that London had won the 2012 Olympic bid and, the following day, the city reeled under devastating terrorist attacks.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41KOTef11lL._SY346_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41KOTef11lL._SY346_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>What goes around, comes around and the issues are still very relevant. No one needs me to tell them about the ongoing terrorist threat. And, in one of those strange bits of writer-ly synchronicity, the day before Me, John and a Bomb was published, I saw a piece on the news about a <a href="https://southwalesanarchists.wordpress.com/tag/cardiff-anarchist-network/">cop who infiltrated the anarchist network in Cardiff 10 years ago</a> - the central plot thread of my novel.<br /><br />We all know Amazon rankings are pretty much meaningless, but I had a little frisson when I saw Me, John and a Bomb had shot up higher than <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=">Nirvana Bites</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"> </a>and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=">Trading Tatiana</a> ever did when they were published by Orion. Of course, that was pre-FB and Twitter. Still worth a small squee, I reckon. You can see excerpts from all my Nirvana novels on <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/">my website</a>. Next year, I hope to publish <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/the-gene-pool/">The Gene Pool</a>, the 5th and final book in the series.<br /><br />Wishing you all the very best for 2017 and hoping for some sweetness and light in a world that often seems filled with darkness. <br /><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-nirvanans-are-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-4494881902962704228Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:44:00 +00002016-09-12T15:58:58.659+00:00FoW16 in photos<a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14264816_1293597947339052_6586495391851838612_n.jpg?oh=67871b42c92529ca6d7d0fb029e45728&amp;oe=5883C8C3" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14264816_1293597947339052_6586495391851838612_n.jpg?oh=67871b42c92529ca6d7d0fb029e45728&amp;oe=5883C8C3" width="176" /></a> <br /><br />Yet again, the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/events.html">Festival of Writing</a> was an absolute blast. So much talent; so many inspiring stories; such warmth and love between fellow authors. I think the weekend is best summed up in this email I've received from a delegate who has just signed up for the January <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Courses/Self-Editing-Your-Novel-6-Weeks-Online-Course.html">online self-edit course</a>. (September's is sold out.)<br /><br /><i>I did feel a huge sense of trepidation on Friday when I was driving up to York.&nbsp; My inner monologue kept asking me what on earth I was doing!&nbsp; By total contrast, I listened to Jo Cannon's heartwarming story yesterday and felt a real sense that I belonged there.&nbsp; I really didn't want to leave!&nbsp; But I have come away with a wealth of information and tips to apply to my writing, and am looking forward to getting stuck in.</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />For me, it was my busiest festie yet - and that's saying something. I ran the self-edit mini course on Friday and was also on the panel for the wonderful Friday Night Live experience. Massive congrats to all the shortlisted authors and the joint winners, <u>Gerry Fenge</u><i> </i>and Jo Bunt. On Saturday, I had two hours of Book Doctor slots, a workshop on psychic distance and I did the compering for the Saturday competitions after the gala dinner. Congrats to everyone who had cause to celebrate. The real high was being on the crime genre panel as an author rather than an editor or tutor. And on Sunday, I had another hour of Book Doctoring, a final workshop on dialogue and - oh bliss - I had the privilege and enormous pleasure of being the person who introduced the final keynote speaker and FoW success story,<a href="https://joannacannon.com/"> Joanna Cannon</a>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14322177_1292552974110216_4307165033883783608_n.jpg?oh=e9996693de6cfd938929cfa811172b7a&amp;oe=5878B529" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14322177_1292552974110216_4307165033883783608_n.jpg?oh=e9996693de6cfd938929cfa811172b7a&amp;oe=5878B529" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self-edit mini course. Interesting body language when people are forced to write about an emotionally charged episode from their own past.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14233266_1292552817443565_1166344830765687634_n.jpg?oh=521c7a9572dff7b5b74b946e8b8d61fd&amp;oe=587D2704" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14233266_1292552817443565_1166344830765687634_n.jpg?oh=521c7a9572dff7b5b74b946e8b8d61fd&amp;oe=587D2704" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cloudies</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14317342_1292552870776893_6794239464385459625_n.jpg?oh=7d1fc14ccf93dc1098857469e1b89d6c&amp;oe=5883323B" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14317342_1292552870776893_6794239464385459625_n.jpg?oh=7d1fc14ccf93dc1098857469e1b89d6c&amp;oe=5883323B" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Cloudies</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p280x280/14233211_10202044923642028_6420896859962651450_n.jpg?oh=1dfa876eab23d81e34a8296f1e29e5b2&amp;oe=58785C5C" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p280x280/14233211_10202044923642028_6420896859962651450_n.jpg?oh=1dfa876eab23d81e34a8296f1e29e5b2&amp;oe=58785C5C" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self-edit alumni: Gerry Fenge, Sylvia Petter, Julie Cordiner and Arabella Murray</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14232477_1293598024005711_2599939490185374478_n.jpg?oh=59621a5dcb43fad500e82fd5ae449435&amp;oe=5885409C" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14232477_1293598024005711_2599939490185374478_n.jpg?oh=59621a5dcb43fad500e82fd5ae449435&amp;oe=5885409C" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from my desk for Book Doctor sessions</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14291834_1293598107339036_1546062556553177286_n.jpg?oh=06760bfb3d517c88bcd37c8d2c51bdb4&amp;oe=588005CA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14291834_1293598107339036_1546062556553177286_n.jpg?oh=06760bfb3d517c88bcd37c8d2c51bdb4&amp;oe=588005CA" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Veggie starter at the gala dinner</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212218_1293598167339030_5057983568795141252_n.jpg?oh=afb65186fcd932bb182bd931703ffcc7&amp;oe=5872FE01" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212218_1293598167339030_5057983568795141252_n.jpg?oh=afb65186fcd932bb182bd931703ffcc7&amp;oe=5872FE01" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yet more Cloudies</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14238182_1293598230672357_56211386870733471_n.jpg?oh=e8ab8e98a879e99467cb291885d378f2&amp;oe=5845846C" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14238182_1293598230672357_56211386870733471_n.jpg?oh=e8ab8e98a879e99467cb291885d378f2&amp;oe=5845846C" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And more</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14291741_1293597857339061_3196985438393846543_n.jpg?oh=67ab62f721fc71af2bbbb43720ade587&amp;oe=587229DA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14291741_1293597857339061_3196985438393846543_n.jpg?oh=67ab62f721fc71af2bbbb43720ade587&amp;oe=587229DA" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wonderful<a href="https://cltaylorauthor.com/"> Cally Taylor </a>and her agent, <a href="http://madeleinemilburn.co.uk/">Madeleine Milburn</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14322741_1293597894005724_2149425370513302177_n.jpg?oh=e004bce8cd89881309c670579cdaac04&amp;oe=587743D7" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14322741_1293597894005724_2149425370513302177_n.jpg?oh=e004bce8cd89881309c670579cdaac04&amp;oe=587743D7" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cally and Madeleine</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212100_1293597984005715_9040595236155029167_n.jpg?oh=5c221e496d855acddfa69664cfd01db0&amp;oe=58452450" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212100_1293597984005715_9040595236155029167_n.jpg?oh=5c221e496d855acddfa69664cfd01db0&amp;oe=58452450" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Struggling with psychic distance</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212623_1293688897329957_7996121819127234049_n.jpg?oh=e7dc1203a90bc6065aab4d1579725481&amp;oe=5841068F" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212623_1293688897329957_7996121819127234049_n.jpg?oh=e7dc1203a90bc6065aab4d1579725481&amp;oe=5841068F" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cloudie, Scheherezade, who won the Pitch Perfect competition</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14292331_1293688960663284_7095156668868306011_n.jpg?oh=9ad5d1067d83660428d87f3ea0545544&amp;oe=583DAB40" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14292331_1293688960663284_7095156668868306011_n.jpg?oh=9ad5d1067d83660428d87f3ea0545544&amp;oe=583DAB40" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/">Katherine Hetzel</a> AKA Squidge, with tiara for added sparkle</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14237673_1294388240593356_6915833793861331578_n.jpg?oh=4a3e1c14a2aaea486e36d581d4de7f9d&amp;oe=583F6994" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14237673_1294388240593356_6915833793861331578_n.jpg?oh=4a3e1c14a2aaea486e36d581d4de7f9d&amp;oe=583F6994" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winner and runner up for <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/exciting-festival-of-writing-news-announcing-the-goat-bursary-award/">Jo Cannon's Goat bursary</a>: Linda McLaughlin and Nasreen Rafiq</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p280x280/14265073_1294918757206971_5475961554730166283_n.jpg?oh=fe23a52a04e5822ae10e32312b65fe50&amp;oe=5875C2F6" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p280x280/14265073_1294918757206971_5475961554730166283_n.jpg?oh=fe23a52a04e5822ae10e32312b65fe50&amp;oe=5875C2F6" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The glorious and inspiring <a href="https://joannacannon.com/">Joanna Cannon</a>, who made me cry in front of several hundred people. Be more goat, people</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14316781_1295763867122460_8870416158220684324_n.jpg?oh=fd90ffc9cf32879e58eb30478e0e0f4b&amp;oe=5844D6B9" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14316781_1295763867122460_8870416158220684324_n.jpg?oh=fd90ffc9cf32879e58eb30478e0e0f4b&amp;oe=5844D6B9" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only book I came away with - but what a book</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14264889_1295763907122456_7385467968592405807_n.jpg?oh=15f4ec42d89565258b90a9cc6181f4bb&amp;oe=583DDFFC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14264889_1295763907122456_7385467968592405807_n.jpg?oh=15f4ec42d89565258b90a9cc6181f4bb&amp;oe=583DDFFC" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've been mentioned in acknowledgements for many novels but this is the first time I've had one dedicated to me. Thank you, Squidge</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14322755_1295782933787220_4187679669916851763_n.jpg?oh=dd8285e90ede5c56d799f1ecab005908&amp;oe=5837C35E" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14322755_1295782933787220_4187679669916851763_n.jpg?oh=dd8285e90ede5c56d799f1ecab005908&amp;oe=5837C35E" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dialogue workshop - writers gotta write</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212606_1295782817120565_5028097870649533212_n.jpg?oh=fe00d2488369e0bf0ff3f7eb75ec46d6&amp;oe=583B6E19" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212606_1295782817120565_5028097870649533212_n.jpg?oh=fe00d2488369e0bf0ff3f7eb75ec46d6&amp;oe=583B6E19" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who could ask for a more beautiful setting?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212773_1293688863996627_1822064109945588059_n.jpg?oh=057b2cc9a9ba464d3cb44409f2681209&amp;oe=5874EF3B" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14212773_1293688863996627_1822064109945588059_n.jpg?oh=057b2cc9a9ba464d3cb44409f2681209&amp;oe=5874EF3B" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The traditional self-edit alumni photo. Similar numbers to previous years but many different faces</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Having been reminded that I'm also an author, I'll sneak in a nod and a wink to remind people that my first three <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/">Nirvana novels</a> are all available as e-books on Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&amp;text=Debi+Alper&amp;search-alias=digital-text&amp;field-author=Debi+Alper&amp;sort=relevancerank">here</a> for the UK and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Debi-Alper/e/B0034QFUOI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1473694457&amp;sr=8-1">here</a> in the US. This has just been posted on my FB wall by someone who bought a copy of Trading Tatiana over the weekend:<br /><br /><i><span data-ft="{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;K&quot;}"><span class="UFICommentBody">Every line is bursting with wit handled with the lightest touch, and I can't stop chuckling. The characterisation is very clever and your observations hilarious. Every time you introduce someone they become my new favourite... The list is growing.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span data-ft="{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;K&quot;}"><span class="UFICommentBody">My cockles are warmed to boiling point. </span></span><i><span data-ft="{&quot;tn&quot;:&quot;K&quot;}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><br /></span></span></i><br /><br />As in previous years, lives will have changed over this weekend. Whether or not people end up being signed by agents, everyone should go away with new tools to apply to their writing. FoW is magical and I wish everyone the very best for the journey ahead. See you online - if you haven't already joined <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/">the Cloud</a>, what are you waiting for? - and, hopefully, at FoW17.<i> </i>http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/09/fow16-in-photos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-1485344633384315612Thu, 19 May 2016 15:21:00 +00002018-05-24T10:54:48.579+00:00Self-edit course roll of honourWriting a novel is hard. Getting said novel published is even harder. Authors need to do everything they can to polish and perfect their story until it leaps off the page. Of course, you can pay for a professional critique, but it's also possible to learn how to edit your own novel.<br /><br />That's where the <a href="https://jerichowriters.com/bazaar/self-editing-novel-online-course/">6-week online Self-Edit Your Novel course </a>comes in. <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a> and I designed the course for <a href="https://jerichowriters.com/about/">Jericho Writers</a> (previously The Writers' Workshop) and wrote the tutorials together, though I now do all the detailed feedback, with Emma coming in at the end of the week with an invaluable round-up of the topic.<br /><br />But does the course make a real difference, in practical ways? Can it increase your chances? Is there any way of proving that it does?<br /><br />This should convince you: the self-edit course in numbers.<br /><br />The first course was in <span style="font-size: large;"><b>April 2011</b></span>, and it runs <span style="font-size: large;"><b>4 times a year</b></span>.<br /><br />As at April 2016, we have had <b><span style="font-size: large;">19 courses</span></b> and a total of <b><span style="font-size: large;">215 participants</span></b>. (See updated figures below at the bottom of the post.) <br /><br />I recently asked around on social networks to see how many of our alumni now have books 'out there'. Most of these come from our early courses, the authors having had the time to edit their drafts and go through the next steps towards being published. I'm sure there are many more in the pipeline and probably several I've missed.<br /><br />So how does that figure compare to the industry average? <br /><br />A <span style="font-size: large;"><b>top agent will receive about 2,000 submissions a year</b></span>, of whom they will <span style="font-size: large;"><b>sign maybe 2 authors </b></span>- a hit rate of <span style="font-size: large;"><b>.01%</b></span>.<br /><br />The hit rate for<span style="font-size: large;"><b> our alumni is</b></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>36 out of 215</b></span> = <span style="font-size: large;"><b>16.74%. </b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>(I will be editing this figure as new deals are announced.)</i></span></span><i> </i>Some of these have self-published but I know from the signed books on my shelf that they are as professionally presented, and as well-written, as the trade published novels they sit next to. In one particular course, back in March 2013, <span style="font-size: large;"><b>6 out of 11 participants are now published, or about to be.</b></span> <br /><br />In case you don't believe me, here's our Self-Editing alumni Hall of Fame, with links to their Amazon pages and other sites when the novels are forthcoming. <br /><br />In no particular order, hearty congrats to:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cathy-Bramley/e/B00F3X4SUW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1463580265&amp;sr=1-2-ent">Cathy Bramley</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clare-Flynn/e/B008O4T2LC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463580333&amp;sr=1-1">Claire Flynn</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jody-Klaire/e/B00IPRRFLW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1463580365&amp;sr=1-2-ent">Jody Klaire</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Katherine-Hetzel/e/B00E0RURF2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463580402&amp;sr=1-1">Katherine Hetzel</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/G.D.-Harper/e/B01DOABA5G/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463580902&amp;sr=1-1">G D Harper</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Louise-Walters/e/B00II6KBS4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463580934&amp;sr=1-1">Louise Walters</a><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&amp;field-keywords=The+Waterborne+Blade">Susan Murray</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/J.-A.-Ironside/e/B00MH876P0/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1463581079&amp;sr=1-2-ent">Jules Ironside</a><br /><a href="http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/claire-evans/work/the-inheritance-of-william-lamb">Claire Evans</a> <br /><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Giants-Look-Down-Sonja-Price/dp/0719819954/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1463581307&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=sonja+price">Sonja Price</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amanda-Saint/e/B00N426PBY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463581392&amp;sr=1-1">Amanda Saint</a><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&amp;text=Jackie+Buxton&amp;search-alias=digital-text&amp;field-author=Jackie+Buxton&amp;sort=relevancerank">Jackie Buxton</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/C.J.-Waller/e/B00G5QN90Q/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463581547&amp;sr=1-1">Claire Waller</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Matthew-Willis/e/B00DQNCNZS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463581658&amp;sr=8-1">Matt Willis</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mari-Griffith/e/B00ZVBQBEW/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463581696&amp;sr=1-1">Mari Griffith</a><br /><a href="http://www.newhenontheblog.com/">Chrissie Bradshaw</a> <br /><a href="http://sandra-linesofcommunication.blogspot.co.uk/p/novels-published-and-unpublished.html">Sandra Davies</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Katrina-Mountfort/e/B00MU1AEA8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463584389&amp;sr=8-1">Kat Mountfort</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/B.A.-Steadman/e/B0190V3LYG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463584551&amp;sr=8-1">Bernie Steadman</a><br /><a href="https://farragobooks.com/orchestral-manoeuvres-in-stockwell-park/">Isabel Rogers</a> <br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shauna-Bickley/e/B0063VE5NS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1463584852&amp;sr=8-1">Shauna Bickley</a><br /><a href="http://www.nightingale-editions.com/">Sally Miller</a> (writing as Sara Bailey)<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Voula-Grand/e/B005LJ5SZM/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1463670322&amp;sr=1-2-ent">Voula Grand</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aneeta-Sundararaj/e/B005D2YDGM/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1463670512&amp;sr=1-2-ent">Aneeta Sundararaj</a><br /><a href="https://dulcetshop.myshopify.com/products/the-bitters-susie-campbell">Susie Campbell</a><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Rabbit-Vampire-Murders-Book-ebook/dp/B01FXLDGQA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1463742633&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=barb+ettridge">Barb Ettridge</a></span></span> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B018XQDF04/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&amp;text=ES+Rollett&amp;search-alias=digital-text&amp;field-author=ES+Rollett&amp;sort=relevancerank">E S Rollett</a></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/SOPHIE-CAYEUX/e/B017QF1V4K/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1464865182&amp;sr=8-1">Sophie Cayeux</a></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laxmi-Hariharan/e/B007M6E542/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1464865373&amp;sr=8-1">Laxmi </a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Laxmi-Hariharan/e/B007M6E542/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1464865373&amp;sr=8-1">Hariharan</a></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Person-Significance-Marjorie-Lazaro-ebook/dp/B01JRWMSZ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1470408521&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=a+person+of+significance">Marjorie Lazoro</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://triskelebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/winner-of-our-big-5-competition.html">Sophie Wellstood</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.thebookseller.com/news/hq-signs-two-book-deal-debut-author-vicky-newham-446276">Vicky Newham</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.thebookseller.com/news/transworld-acquires-primary-school-teachers-hometime-debut-479871">Mandy Berriman</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://maddieplease.blogspot.co.uk/?spref=fb">Maddie Please</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nemesister-gripping-psychological-thriller-Jonas-Hill-ebook/dp/B072C3NYTB/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1498327212&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Nemesister">Sophie Jonas-Hill&nbsp;</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://twitter.com/PtBlankBks/status/913353079147388929">Fiona Erskine</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span>&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span>&nbsp;<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8oi0cmxrIHg/WwaZvWLKrJI/AAAAAAAAJiQ/ZlJOpiCiW_gS6AKyldEuCrm8si3KgzPogCLcBGAs/s1600/DSC_1543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8oi0cmxrIHg/WwaZvWLKrJI/AAAAAAAAJiQ/ZlJOpiCiW_gS6AKyldEuCrm8si3KgzPogCLcBGAs/s320/DSC_1543.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few of the published novels from our self-edit alumni</td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></span></span></span></span>&nbsp;</span></span></span></span> <br />If you know of anyone I've missed, please shout in the comments and I'll add them to the list.<br /><br />People who have attended more recent courses:<br /><a href="http://www.bookouture.com/2017/10/11/bookouture-sign-debut-womens-fiction-author-emma-robinson/">Emma Robinson</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>To see details of forthcoming courses, c</b></span><b>lick <a href="https://jerichowriters.com/bazaar/self-editing-novel-online-course/">HERE</a>.</b><br /><b>As at April 2018, we have 310 alumni. The above percentages refer to people who had taken the course at the time of the original post.&nbsp; </b><br /><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/05/self-edit-course-roll-of-honour.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-1435810607223082351Sun, 01 May 2016 12:10:00 +00002016-05-01T12:10:48.088+00:00On this day ... <div style="text-align: center;">It's Mayday 2016.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">To pagans, this is <a href="https://beltane.org/beltane-fire-festival-2016/">Beltane.</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;To lefties, it's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers'_Day">International Workers' Day</a>.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>And, to me,&nbsp; it's LAUNCH DAY for <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/de-nada-nirvana/de-nada-nirvana-background/">De Nada Nirvana</a>!&nbsp;</b></span></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FxuR46a--Bs/VyXtuj0l9ZI/AAAAAAAACvk/7mGVfaByKFgFTJIppFQUVYiDtdkvjv8LQCLcB/s1600/DNN%2Bcover%2Blarge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FxuR46a--Bs/VyXtuj0l9ZI/AAAAAAAACvk/7mGVfaByKFgFTJIppFQUVYiDtdkvjv8LQCLcB/s320/DNN%2Bcover%2Blarge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br />No party, no booze and nibbles and signings, no cards and flowers, but this one is just as meaningful as the previous ones. So here's a photo of me and my dad at the launch of Trading Tatiana in Jan 2005. Dad was 90 in this pic, and had crossed London on public transport from Edgware to Crystal Palace to be there. (Londoners will get the enormity of going from NW of the city to SE.) <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GC1n_13Wff8/VyXqrZDRpWI/AAAAAAAACvY/uda7VsYC9r8yvjDQNFl8rMZQ6rOmUqlfQCLcB/s1600/Dad%2Bat%2BTT%2Blaunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GC1n_13Wff8/VyXqrZDRpWI/AAAAAAAACvY/uda7VsYC9r8yvjDQNFl8rMZQ6rOmUqlfQCLcB/s400/Dad%2Bat%2BTT%2Blaunch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>DE NADA NIRVANA IS NOW AVAILABLE <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nada-Nirvana-Book-ebook/dp/B01ES10A2Y?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=debi%20alper&amp;qid=1461927583&amp;ref_=sr_1_3&amp;sr=8-3">HERE</a> IN THE UK AND <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nada-Nirvana-Book-ebook/dp/B01ES10A2Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1461927683&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=debi+alper">HERE</a> IN THE US</b><br /><b><a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/nirvana-bites/">NIRVANA BITES</a> AND <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/trading-tatiana/">TRADING TATIANA</a> ARE STILL ON SPECIAL OFFER AT 99p EACH. Check them out <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B0034QFUOI/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&amp;field-author=Debi+Alper&amp;search-alias=digital-text&amp;text=Debi+Alper&amp;sort=relevancerank">here</a> (UK) and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Debi-Alper/e/B0034QFUOI/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1">here</a> (US)</b><br /><b><br /></b>Massive thanks to all those people who have encouraged me to make this happen. You know who you are. http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/05/on-this-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-1368770422540846883Thu, 21 Apr 2016 11:22:00 +00002016-04-29T11:02:00.008+00:00Facing Down THE FEAREverything was on track. I'd received the fourth version of the converted file of <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/de-nada-nirvana/de-nada-nirvana-background/">De Nada Nirvana</a>. All I needed to do was a final, final proofread and I'd be ready to publish. At least, that was the theory. The reality turned out to be rather different. I'm going to talk through this part of the journey here. Let's get ready to ramble.<br /><br />I can't say procrastination paralysed me. Instead, I suddenly found a huge number of things to do that needed to take priority. Except I didn't. Not really. True, I was <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Courses/Self-Editing-Your-Novel-6-Weeks-Online-Course.html?page=Self-Editing">running a self-edit course</a>, but there was a lull in <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/editing-services/">editing commissions</a> and I didn't have my usual pile of MSs to work through. But there were Other Things getting in the way. I told myself <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/">my website</a> had to be updated first. Emails that I'd usually consider to be non-urgent shot up the to-do list. I even cleaned corners of the flat that were shocked to see me.<br /><br />My mood plummeted and the questions began to roll in. What if this wasn't just a lull in editing work? What if it had dried up forever? Had my career stalled? Was I going to go back to struggling to pay the rent? Eventually, the questions crystallised and I identified the big one, The Fear.<br /><br />What if people HATED my new novel?<br /><br />Yep, I'd been beset by the Doubt Demons, as a writer friend calls them. Only one way to deal with them. I had to call each of them out from the shadows and get them to state their case so I could come up with the answers to silence them.<br /><br />The conversation went like this:<br /><br />Doubt Demon: De Nada Nirvana is the first novel you've published in ten years.<br /><br />Me: No need to rub it in.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Ah, but this one's different, isn't it. It hasn't been through a gatekeeper.<br /><br />Me: That's not strictly true. My agent took me on, on the basis of this novel.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Wait. You mean you <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/nirvana-bites/nirvana-bites-background/">didn't have an agent</a> for the first two? Are you mad? Or just stupid?<br /><br />Me: Quite possibly both. What can I say? Hindsight's a bitch.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: So let me get this right. You were signed direct by Orion without an agent. They didn't offer you a third book deal though, did they? Hmmm? Wouldn't you say that suggests it Just Wasn't Good Enough?<br /><br />Me: Maybe. But it's also true that a lot of that might have been down to timing and circumstances beyond my control.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that. Or maybe it's because the first two weren't that good either. Your sales didn't exactly set the world on fire, did they?<br /><br />Me: Sales of <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/nirvana-bites/">Nirvana Bites</a> were not spectacular, it's true, but they weren't disastrous either. Don't forget I had no web presence back then. It was much harder to build a buzz. But <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/trading-tatiana/">Trading Tatiana</a> had a fraught journey before she even got to the published stage. There was a series of events at the publishers - some tragic - that meant she went through four different editors before she was launched. It was nothing to do with me, nor did it have any connection to my novel. The editorial team must have been in total disarray. There was no one in my corner, championing me.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Shame you didn't have an agent back then, isn't it, eh?<br /><br />Me: Oh, do piss off. We've covered this one. Move on.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: OK, we will. Let's get back to De Nada Nirvana. Your agent loved it but he couldn't sell it, so it hasn't been through any kind of professional editing process, has it. Answer me that one.<br /><br />Me: I believe I can answer that, since you ask. I wrote De Nada Nirvana over ten years ago and only returned to it last year when I decided to self-publish it. In those intervening ten years, I've <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/editing-services/">worked as a freelance editor</a>, editing an average of 2-3 MSs a month. For the last five years, I've run an online <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Courses/Self-Editing-Your-Novel-6-Weeks-Online-Course.html?page=Self-Editing">Self-Edit Your Novel course</a> with <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a>, as well as teaching creative writing at events and to writers' groups. I believe I have both the skills and the distance to edit my own novels. In any case, De Nada Nirvana looks very different now from the version my agent was unable to sell. I know it's a better book. As far as I'm concerned, it<i> has</i> been professionally edited.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Yeah, but you have some worries about it, don't you. Go on. Spit them out. You've broken rules and you're scared you're gonna be called out on it. And then that'll undermine your reputation as a professional editor and tutor. You're done. This is the end, my friend.<br /><br />Me: You're no friend of mine.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Go on then. Defend yourself against the charge that you've head-hopped.<br /><br />Me: Right, I will. I've looked very carefully at the areas where some people might think that's what I've done and you know what? I think it works in the story. A newbie to the concept, looking for things to criticise when they read published novels, might spot it and go, 'Aha! Practise what you preach, Editrix!' but I'm willing to bet that readers won't notice any of the dislocation you get when the psychic distance spectrum hasn't been used to good effect.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: OK, but while we're on the subject of breaking rules, you always bang on about how novels often struggle to sustain more than three or four. Remind me again how many POVs you have in De Nada Nirvana?<br /><br />Me: Don't forget that I'm a huge fan of <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2010-12-31T16:00:00-08:00&amp;updated-max=2011-03-23T00:06:00Z&amp;max-results=44&amp;start=32&amp;by-date=false">breaking the rules</a>, as long as you have a good reason and do it well. I concede that there are several characters, some very minor, who have their own limited POVs, but I maintain that it's very clear that the story belongs to Jo and Jen. Besides, it's not that uncommon in the thriller genre to have brief scenes in minor POVs.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Ah, I'm glad you brought up the business of genre. What the hell is this novel? The politics are more in the background than in the two previous Nirvana books. De Nada Nirvana was the first you wrote in third person. There are two threads: Jo's, in Spain, is the crime thread, and Jen's in South London is ... is ... What the hell is that? Are you writing romance, Alper?<br /><br />Me: Ha! Yeah, I know. It took me by surprise too. But I don't think I'll be joining the <a href="http://www.rna-uk.org/">Romantic Novelists' Association</a> any time soon. It's a very quirky sort of romance and I think it's the kind of thing that readers who are following these characters would expect and want to see. One of the <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/trading-tatiana/trading-tatiana-reviews/">reviews for Trading Tatiana</a>, described it as <i>an unorthodox mix of comedy, kitchen-sink drama and dark thriller. </i>All I've done with De Nada Nirvana is throw a new element into the mix. The threads are interwoven. What can I say? I believe in the book. I enjoyed writing it and hope others will enjoy reading it.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: You do realise that by writing this blog you're going to draw people's attention to the very things you're twitching about ...<br /><br />Me: Sigh. I know. What can I do? I'm a writer. Lots of us have a tendency to over-share.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Right, howzabout this for the killer punch then. You're crap at self-promotion. You'll sell a few copies. You have loyal friends, many of then writers themselves, who will buy it because they know you. But you'll never spread the word beyond that small community because you have neither the will nor the skill to tell the rest of the world your books are out there.<br /><br />Me: You're absolutely right. I'm not going to try arguing with you on this one. I'm fully aware that self-publishing also means self-promoting. That doesn't have to mean you should be ramming your novel down people's throats at every opportunity but there's an enormous gulf between doing that and doing sod all. I know I should be thinking about mailing lists and competitions and blog tours and special offers and all that but I'm not.<br /><br />And you know what? I'm OK with that. It all depends on how you measure success and what it is you want to achieve. I wanted to write books I'd enjoy reading. I've succeeded in doing that. I wanted to make the rest of the Nirvana series available for those who want to read them. The job's in hand and making progress. I also want and need to balance being an author with my role in working with other people to perfect their novels. I'm simply not prepared to devote the time and energy it takes to do more than the occasional blog post, or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/debi.alper.7?fref=nf">FB post</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/DebiAlper">tweet</a> to promote my novels. But I'm cool with this. I'm not settling for second best. It feels right to me. De Nada Nirvana will be out shortly and then I'm going to start looking at <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/me-john-and-a-bomb/">Me, John and a Bomb</a>. It's gonna happen.<br /><br />Doubt Demon: Bollocks. Looks like we'll have to go off and find some other poor author to torment.<br /><br />And there we have it. I've faced The Fear and I'm still standing. De Nada Nirvana will be published on 1 May. Because Mayday, y'know. Over the next day or so, I'll set it up so it's available for pre-orders. Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nirvana-Bites-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRFRG6?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=debi%20alper&amp;qid=1461237133&amp;ref_=sr_1_1&amp;sr=8-1">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=pd_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=31jYxezLvjL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_UX300_PJku-sticker-v3%2CTopRight%2C0%2C-44_OU02_AC_UL160_SR100%2C160_&amp;refRID=04AGG8YWJTGYSKSZNN4K">Trading Tatiana</a> are still on special offer at 99p each. Let's get this show on the road.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE: DE NADA NIRVANA IS NOW AVAILABLE <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nada-Nirvana-Book-ebook/dp/B01ES10A2Y?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=debi%20alper&amp;qid=1461927583&amp;ref_=sr_1_3&amp;sr=8-3">HERE</a> IN THE UK AND <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nada-Nirvana-Book-ebook/dp/B01ES10A2Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1461927683&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=debi+alper">HERE</a> IN THE US.</b> http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/04/facing-down-fear.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-5924513976454368932Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:18:00 +00002016-04-08T18:34:20.356+00:00Love your local library (before it's too late)<b>UPDATE FRIDAY 8 APRIL</b><br /><b>AN EVICTION NOTICE HAS BEEN SERVED ON THE OCCUPIERS OF THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY. THEY HAVE 24 HOURS TO LEAVE OR FACE ARREST. PLEASE SUPPORT THE DEMO TOMORROW. DETAILS AT THE END OF THIS POST.&nbsp;</b> <br /><br />When I was growing up, my parents couldn't afford to buy books but I was addicted to stories. I swept through the children's library, exhausting the stock well before I'd left primary school. A kind librarian agreed to allow me to enter the hallowed halls of the adult library, where the biggest excitement was that I could now borrow five books at a time, instead of a paltry three. It was during my teenage years that I ploughed through almost all the books on the lists of 'classics you should read' that come out every so often. I worked through biographies, as well as novels, discovering the likes of Tolstoy, Kafka, Hesse, Austen, de Beauvoir and many more. Genre was meaningless to me: strong stories were what I was after. It was on the shelves of the library that I discovered that stories could take many forms.<br /><br />In secondary school, I discovered a new use for the library and was there almost every day in the study room, revising for exams. Once I had my children, I was once again in my local library several times a week, pulling books from the shelves and attending reading sessions and after-school clubs. As an author, I've read at many events organised in libraries, connecting readers with writers. The staff were invariably warm and welcoming. One heard that the day I was appearing in their library was also my birthday - and baked me a cake!<br /><br />When my father was in his nineties, and before he moved to a care home, I would often go over and find he wasn't at home. Needless to say, my initial response was always a stab of anxiety. My first port of call was to check his library, just a few doors away from his flat. And nine times out of ten, there he would be, sitting in an armchair, chatting to other people, or reading a newspaper or books pulled from the shelves.&nbsp; <br /><br />As a member of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/eastdulwichwritersgroup/">East Dulwich Writers' Group</a>, I was part of an event at the glorious <a href="http://friendsofcarnegielibrary.org.uk/our_history/">Carnegie Library</a> in Herne Hill in June 2011. We read in the gardens on a beautiful summer's evening and it was clear to us all that this was a perfect example of a library that was deeply rooted in the community. Libraries like the Carnegie operate as community hubs, offering so much more than book loans, though Gawd knows that would be enough. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RXZ4mr_tx84/Tu0Z39vznOI/AAAAAAAAAeY/qV7_pbSzwo4/s1600/IMG00177-20110629-1901+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RXZ4mr_tx84/Tu0Z39vznOI/AAAAAAAAAeY/qV7_pbSzwo4/s1600/IMG00177-20110629-1901+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>And now the local council has decided to close the library and re-open it a year or so later as a fee-paying gym, with a single room with books, but no librarian. </b><br /><br />On 1 April (the council has no sense of irony) the library was officially to close but a group of about 80 people, including some families, occupied the building.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/12936556_1146925132006335_6915628313305210175_n.jpg?oh=0110ddaee89f4fb45964b1698850a837&amp;oe=57C074D1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/12936556_1146925132006335_6915628313305210175_n.jpg?oh=0110ddaee89f4fb45964b1698850a837&amp;oe=57C074D1" width="320" /></a></div><br />The council has since served them with an injunction - which they're determined to ignore. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/t1.0-9/12670508_1146925058673009_5684183856891874018_n.jpg?oh=21b87d426715af0697354d372b5a4f16&amp;oe=5776883F" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/t1.0-9/12670508_1146925058673009_5684183856891874018_n.jpg?oh=21b87d426715af0697354d372b5a4f16&amp;oe=5776883F" width="320" /></a></div><br />It's worth remembering these words from Andrew Carnegie: 'A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a spring in the desert.'<br />In other words, the library belongs to the community, the people. It's not the Council's to take away.<br /><br />The campaign website is <a href="http://debialper.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8174884642c4dafd176b3cf3&amp;id=674a37f836&amp;e=acf2f4e5fd">here</a>. Lots more info on <a href="http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2016/04/carnegie-library-occupation-enters-day-6-as-campaigners-raise-questions-about-the-lambethgll-gym-connection/">Brixton Buzz</a>. If you're on Twitter, there are numerous accounts to follow but <a href="http://debialper.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8174884642c4dafd176b3cf3&amp;id=cae0281970&amp;e=acf2f4e5fd">this is the one</a> for seeing tweets from those inside the building. There's also a <a href="http://debialper.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8174884642c4dafd176b3cf3&amp;id=d9edd9d0d4&amp;e=acf2f4e5fd">Facebook page</a>. And, finally, <a href="http://debialper.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8174884642c4dafd176b3cf3&amp;id=b094f657ca&amp;e=acf2f4e5fd">this</a> is a map of the location of the library. If you live locally, why not pop along. They have no cooking facilities so gifts of food are welcomed. After <a href="http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2016/04/another-late-night-twitter-meltdown-as-lambeth-labour-cllrs-make-bizarre-criticism-of-carnegie-campaigners-for-drinking-wine/">snipey tweets from Labour councilors</a> in response to a photo of the occupiers drinking wine, loads of people turned up the next day - bearing gifts of wine. This is community activism at its best. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12928272_1146925072006341_4932453869288745467_n.jpg?oh=6cde6dfe54891812f4402491f10927cc&amp;oe=57BA9E26" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12928272_1146925072006341_4932453869288745467_n.jpg?oh=6cde6dfe54891812f4402491f10927cc&amp;oe=57BA9E26" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://debialper.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8174884642c4dafd176b3cf3&amp;id=b094f657ca&amp;e=acf2f4e5fd" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><br />In case you're still wondering if libraries are about much more than 'just' borrowing books, have a look at the list of events which will not take place if the closure goes ahead.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeZB2wMXIAAKL00.jpg:large" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeZB2wMXIAAKL00.jpg:large" width="240" /></a></div><br />&nbsp;Please don't let this happen:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/12670629_1146925172006331_1197008833552274972_n.jpg?oh=249fb70578439bb5dc2035a044615d8e&amp;oe=578E9251" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-amt2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/12670629_1146925172006331_1197008833552274972_n.jpg?oh=249fb70578439bb5dc2035a044615d8e&amp;oe=578E9251" width="176" /></a></div><br /><br />Hope to see lots of you there <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1302661615" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">on Saturday</span></span>.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://defendthe10-lambeth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Libs-demo-opt-1-for-social.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://defendthe10-lambeth.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Libs-demo-opt-1-for-social.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/04/love-your-local-library-before-its-too.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-2913576821958836816Wed, 23 Mar 2016 15:48:00 +00002016-03-23T15:49:22.469+00:00Praise for Nirvana Bites and Trading TatianaAs <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nirvana-Bites-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRFRG6/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458747175&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=debi+alper">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=pd_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&amp;dpID=31jYxezLvjL&amp;dpSrc=sims&amp;preST=_UX300_PJku-sticker-v3%2CTopRight%2C0%2C-44_OU02_AC_UL160_SR100%2C160_&amp;refRID=0EMJSPXKWFFPGXJB7MSQ">Trading Tatiana</a> are both on special offer at 99p each for the next week or so, I thought I'd post some reviews the novels received at the time when they were published. (In truth, several writer friends have ordered me to do this.) No links, I'm afraid, as these date back over ten years ago. However, I have managed to track down <a href="https://itsacrimeuk.wordpress.com/2006/07/01/debi-alper-nirvana-bites/">this </a>on the wonderful Crimeficreader's blog (re Nirvana Bites) and <a href="https://itsacrimeuk.wordpress.com/2006/07/14/trading-tatiana-debi-alper/">this</a> re Trading Tatiana. Also the late and much missed Maxine Clarke posted about <a href="https://petronatwo.wordpress.com/2006/06/14/nirvana_bites/">Nirvana Bites on her Petrona blog.</a> <br /><br /><div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;">Cath Staincliffe, Manchester Evening News </span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>When unemployed Jen goes for an interview for a post as a researcher at the BBC she walks in on a scene of mayhem: a naked man stands on top of a ladder, his most private parts attached to a chain and his colleagues seemingly incapable of talking him down. But Jen recognises the man from his distinctive piercing as Stapled Stan, a regular on the S&amp;M scene, and she persuades him not to jump. Stan, married to a high profile Tory MP, is being blackmailed and Jen is enlisted to try and find out who’s calling the shots. Assisted by fellow members of the Nirvana Housing Co-op, a handful of outlandish and damaged individuals who still manage to function as a collective, Jen becomes enmeshed in a world of murky dealing. Sustained by vegetarian feasts, regular spliffs and occasional flurries of direct action, the motley crew discover the trail leads them to the aquatic shop, Koi Korner. When Jen’s friends are on the receiving end of some very ugly violence things get a lot heavier. Comic crime caper from Alper who writes with panache and affection about the alternative worlds of co-operative living, new agers and fetishists. She’s very funny and … delivers a very entertaining read. A fresh voice we should hear more from.</div><div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Big Issue </b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A quick-paced and witty trawl through London’s sub-cultures.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Publishing News </b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A mix of funny, sad and astute.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Zaria Shreef, New Books Magazine</b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A funny, decidedly unpretentious thriller with a sub-cultural cast of characters and a fantastic heroine … From the first page NIRVANA BITES is a gripping, witty and distinctive read. It may stick in the throat of the old-school, anti-pc brigade, but its cast of lesbians, New Agers, animal rights activists and drop-outs is an engaging and refreshing alternative to the usual cast of fictional characters … An education for those who have no inkling of the S&amp;M, drug and anti-capitalist scenes, it’s great fun.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Marcia Wellington, The Beaver </b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">A hilarious whodunit set in the backdrop of the netherworld … A side to humankind that is dark and sinister yet, in spite of the negative environment, love and a true sense of family prevail. Woven into all this is a mystery to die for (some did) that kept me guessing to the end … It allowed me a peek into the dark, disturbing world of S&amp;M, junkies and the otherwise fringe elements of society … A series of comical twists and turns … NIRVANA BITES is a definite must read for all mystery buffs. Otherwise it’s a good/funny/sad/whimsical book for those of us who just like a good read.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Tangled Web</b></div>Bursting with energy, NIRVANA BITES is a brilliantly observed comic triumph, and heralds the arrival of a highly individual and hilarious new voice.<b>&nbsp;</b><br /><br /><b>Give Me a Break</b><br /><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;">Becoming a bit fuzzy? Here’s a in yer face tale of blackmail, villainy, bondage and housing co-ops that really kicks. Get down to a bit of amateur sleuthing and have some laughs by all means, but wake up to what you know is really going on.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Daily Mirror </b></div>Look out for NIRVANA BITES by Debi Alper – dark comedy as Jen’s job at the BBC leads to bondage and blackmail <br /><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /><b>Families SouthEast</b>&nbsp;</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;">Full of wild and whacky underground characters, involved in a weird world of eco-terrorists and S&amp;M. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Magenta Publisher</b></div>Gripping stuff. <br /><div align="left" class="western" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;">Gwyn Griffiths, Morning Star</span></b></div><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Grim lives of desperate people told with love and humour. </span></b>A 20th-century Welsh poet wrote that fiction, which is all lies, is closer than the historian to perfect truth. By that definition, the same would be true of the politician’s statistics. Those thoughts spin through the mind while reading <b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Trading Tatiana, Debi Alper’s pacey, funny, heart-warming and ultimately tragic second novel</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span>It is released at a time when <b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tony Blair and Michael Howard</span></b> are out-bidding each other to show us all how tough they are – or will be – on asylum-seekers.<b> </b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">They should read this novel. This is a political novel by a committed writer, writing from first-hand knowledge and detailed research. The snippets of information about the scale of what is done by those who live off the misery of others is enraging and heart-breaking. This is about the grim existence of desperate people clinging on at the brink, yet told with great humour and love. It is brilliantly written with all the underlying tensions of a terrific page-turner. Get out there, buy it and read it</span></b><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">&nbsp;</span><br /><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Catherine Hunt, Shotsmag</b><br />Here’s a welcome new crime writer … Alper’s theme isn’t original – she uses the current favourite crime, the traffic in prostitutes and the former iron curtain thugs who smuggle in naive, young girls, beat them up, terrorise them and then become their pimps – but her way of telling is refreshing. Her heroine and narrator is a thirty-something, ex-drug addict living the twentieth floor of a vile block of flats in the Old Kent Road. Jo Cooper has every right to be depressed and cynical but her voice is self deprecating, honest and optimistic. She vividly describes the sleaze and mess around her from the filthy, often broken lift, to the street battles between rival gangs. Multi-cultural London is her city and she loves everything about it but it is dirty, noisy and overcrowded so if people seek asylum there, she figures the place they leave must be hellish. Alper has a gift for voices; she can do Rasta, East End, posh, stroppy, anything at all. Her funniest scenes are those in neighbours’ kitchens when the women get together with their kids and chat. These are real characters not stereotypes and not to be disdained because they live in a grotty place. Moreover, they react to events and their thinking changes. She understands suspense, too. The pace is fast; as Jo gets further and further embroiled into what is patently a very dangerous situation, the tension increases, new characters get involved and the plot, as the cliché goes, thickens very satisfactorily.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Cath Staincliffe, author of the Sal Kilkenny mysteries and creator of Blue Murder, starring Caroline Quentin</b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">‘My big fear is insanity. Everything else comes a long way behind.’ Ex-addict Jo Cooper is lonely, vulnerable and genuinely kind. She’s also brave and daft enough to offer sanctuary to a troubled teenage runaway. With compassion, humour and a strong sense of social justice Alper takes us for a walk away from the mainstream and into the seedier, needier, weirder side of London. An alternative, contemporary crime scene with the authentic flavour of life in the new, mean millennium yet there’s hope and belief too, in the potential of friendship and the possibilities of ‘families’ we choose rather than those we are born into.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Roz Clarke, Chatshow.net</b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Debi Alper’s second novel, like “Nirvana Bites”, is set in the downtrodden areas of South London she knows well, areas of desolate high rise housing and vibrant street markets where silent desperation and glorious optimism walk hand in hand. Humour, tragedy, poverty and lawlessness are the daily diet of those who live in within the sprawling urban community and all these elements are evident in Debi’s blackly comic crime thriller. Debi writes with comic affection about the alternative worlds of co-operative living, new agers and fetishists. She has known the strong women who battle against the odds to survive and are knit into a supportive sisterhood. She has sympathy not condemnation for the junkies and the home boys. Debi has revealed that initially she wrote in episodes to read out at her writers’ group, that she didn’t know she was writing a novel. There’s something almost Dickensian in this approach, as there is in the element of social documentary she includes, in her characterisation and in the landscape against which her novels are set. Her photographer’s eye gives her writing a depth of detail and a reality that makes the story both stark and rich … her voice is fresh and bright and laced with a darkly delicious anarchic sense of humour.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Tangledweb</b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sparkling, fast paced and blackly comic.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Martin Tierney, Glasgow Herald </b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The second novel from the London-based writer is an unorthodox mix of comedy, kitchen-sink drama and dark thriller… Alper… move[s] the narrative seamlessly from the comic opportunities sexual perversion provides, to the darker, violent side of prostitution and sexual slavery.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><b>Zoe Walker, South London Press</b><br />Alper’s portrayal of South London living is perhaps as honest a portrait as has yet been painted.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Fiona Hook, Big Issue </b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">It’s funny how one thing leads to another. If Jo Cooper, ex-heroin addict and incurable helper of waifs and strays hadn’t decided to let the strange man she found on her roof in buttockless S&amp;M gear into her top-floor flat in horrible, rundown Boddington Heights, she’d never have had enough money to take her neighbour’s kids to Brighton for the day. So she’d never have rescued a mystery girl from the thugs who were pursuing her, and the course of her life would have been different. The mysterious woman turns up at her flat … exposing Jo to a strange new world of illegal immigration and prostitution, where any victim who escapes must be ruthlessly hunted down. Its utter savagery is thrown into sharp relief by the everyday kindness of neighbours who band together to watch each other’s kids, the sweetness of agoraphobic Pete whose handmade candles Jo earns her living selling and the astonishing generosity and willingness to help of the housing co-operative she stumbles into in her quest for her visitor’s real identity. In trying to save her mystery guest, Jo finds her own salvation.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Love Reading</b><br />A blackly comic thriller where a London market trader finds herself plunged into the world of illegal immigration and teenage prostitution.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>LATEST 7 </b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Trading Tatiana is a rapidly-moving novel that blends black comedy, soft politics and an array of well-developed characters to form a book that is <b><span style="font-weight: normal;">immensely entertaining and packed with unexpected twists.</span></b></div><div align="left" class="western" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div>http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/03/as-nirvana-bites-and-trading-tatiana.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-401615592057193548Sat, 19 Mar 2016 14:30:00 +00002016-03-19T14:33:44.747+00:00Over a decade later, the Nirvanans are backAs I draw closer to the <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/im-hybrid.html">publication of De Nada Nirvana</a>, I'm feeling the excitement of releasing a new book into the world. Although each of my novels is able to stand alone, it's obviously best if people read them in sequence. And so ... drum roll ... I've reduced the price of <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nirvana-Bites-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRFRG6/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458394006&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=debi+alper">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458394006&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=debi+alper">Trading Tatiana</a> to 99p each for the next two weeks. Those links are to Amazon, but you can read extracts of both novels on <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/">my website</a>. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GuD8ZY9FfxI/Vu1SxBFYzfI/AAAAAAAACto/31RbvrCQG6YSH70drOJ63pQ85-gMusqrQ/s1600/TT_CANDLE%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GuD8ZY9FfxI/Vu1SxBFYzfI/AAAAAAAACto/31RbvrCQG6YSH70drOJ63pQ85-gMusqrQ/s200/TT_CANDLE%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="125" /></a><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y_2TbEiXvPs/Vu1StJDdPUI/AAAAAAAACtk/g7OmHLb_F1oSqPpZ1y4AR2mGqlWktwIFA/s1600/NB%2Be%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y_2TbEiXvPs/Vu1StJDdPUI/AAAAAAAACtk/g7OmHLb_F1oSqPpZ1y4AR2mGqlWktwIFA/s200/NB%2Be%2Bcover.jpg" width="125" /></a><br /><br />I'm also taking this opportunity to look back at the amazing journey I had to publication, over twelve years ago now.<br /><br />Unlike many debut authors, I hadn't been toiling away for years, I had no piles of unpublished MSs under my bed, and I had no ambitions to become a published author. I simply started writing a story to read out to my <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/eastdulwichwritersgroup/">writers' group</a>, with no idea that it would even be a complete novel, let alone any understanding about how publishing works. It's hard to believe that Nirvana Bites ended up being picked up directly by Orion and I was offered a two book deal with what nowadays would be considered a healthy advance. <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/nirvana-bites/">Nirvana Bites</a> was published in 2002 and <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/trading-tatiana/trading-tatiana-background/">Trading Tatiana</a> followed in 2005.<br /><br />Trading Tatiana had a fraught journey, bless her. As the result of a series of unconnected (and sometimes tragic) events at the publishers, the novel went through four pairs of hands before landing up with an editor. The MS came back to me with comments and corrections made in all their different handwriting. I already knew that sales of Nirvana Bites had been decent but unspectacular. (This was pre-internet days, when word of mouth was much harder to access than it is now.) I also realised there was no one left at the publishers to promote my cause. By now, I was savvy enough to know that it was unlikely I'd be offered a subsequent deal by Orion and so I started the (some may say belated) search for an agent. (Worth noting that many long-established authors, including <a href="http://www.valmcdermid.com/">Val McDermid</a> and <a href="http://www.ianrankin.net/">Ian Rankin</a>, have said their novels didn't take off until the fourth or fifth in the series and that if their career had begun a few years later, they would have been dropped.)<br /><br />Ten years later and my agent had another three Nirvana novels. He loved each of them but, in spite of some near misses, he was unable to sell them to publishers who were unwilling to commit to a series in which the first two novels had already been published. Of course I was disappointed but you know what? It wasn't as bad as you may think. All authors go through rejection at some point. My career may have been arse-upwards to most others, but that didn't mean I could escape the inevitable pain. And what happened to me had been life-changing. Without that original deal, I wouldn't be doing what I do today. I've loved spending time over this last decade with other authors, polishing and perfecting their novels, crying with them when they get setbacks and dancing with them when they achieve success, in whatever form that may be.<br /><br />But ... but ... I was still an author. I still had those unpublished novels and I still had people contacting me to ask when the next were coming out. Timing may have been instrumental in me not being offered a subsequent deal by Orion, but I'm also around at a time when I can bring those novels in front of readers by other means. The Nirvanans are back on the scene.<br /><br />Now I need to adjust my thinking. Going it alone means that I need to wrap my head round pricing and promo and all that other stuff that I don't want to be taking up time and head space. I'm not good at this. It's not what I want to be doing. So don't look to me for answers about how to successfully publish and promote your own novels. I'll be crap at it. One thing I can do though, is write blog posts like this one and then FB and tweet the link. If you don't like the method, look away now.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BNjdiuCqTTY/Vu1WZTuc2aI/AAAAAAAACt4/eTFANTyVw0gHqTG8P0IU_iGamfWbC0sBA/s1600/DNN%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BNjdiuCqTTY/Vu1WZTuc2aI/AAAAAAAACt4/eTFANTyVw0gHqTG8P0IU_iGamfWbC0sBA/s320/DNN%2Bcover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/03/over-decade-later-nirvanans-are-back.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-8038340185692557034Mon, 01 Feb 2016 14:57:00 +00002016-02-01T14:57:12.198+00:00I'm a hybrid!The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed an addition to the sidebar of this blog. Yep, I'm now a fully paid-up member of the <a href="http://allianceindependentauthors.org/">Alliance of Independent Authors</a> - a giant step forward for my new incarnation as a hybrid author.<br /><br />For those of you who may not know, my first two novels, <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/nirvana-bites/">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/trading-tatiana/">Trading Tatiana</a> were originally published by Orion. A few months ago, (on my birthday, since you ask) I set up my own imprint and published them as e-books. (See <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nirvana-Bites-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRFRG6/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1454338080&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=debi+alper">here</a> for Nirvana Bites and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1454338080&amp;sr=1-5&amp;keywords=debi+alper">here</a> for Trading Tatiana.) I've now edited <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/books/de-nada-nirvana/">De Nada Nirvana</a>, the third novel in the series. It was fun to re-visit a novel I considered to be final draft several years ago, when I was still largely operating by instinct. This was my first novel written in third person, with two different threads: one set in London, following Jen and her fellow Nirvanans, and one set in Spain, where Jo has gone to search for a missing teenager.<br /><br />As an editor and tutor, I often advise people not to have characters with names beginning with the same initial but it's too late to change Jen and Jo now. Anyway, if it was good enough for Orion ... But I did have to cast a beady eye on some of the other characters when I realised four of them had names beginning with T.<br /><ul><li>Tony Bennett is a mobster and there are references to him having the same name as the crooner so that's not going to be changed</li><li>Tina's name is fixed in stone for me but she's a woman and stretched very far apart from TB, so no possible confusion there</li><li>Techno Tom has only a small part and is likewise unlikely to be muddled up with TB</li><li>Ted Baxter, I decided definitely <i>was</i> a problem and so he has become Harry Baxter. There was a salutary lesson there, folks. Thank goodness I knew not to use a global find/replace, or I would have ended up with lots of things like <i>I wanHarry </i>and <i>I was exhausHarry.&nbsp;</i></li></ul>While I'm naming names, I have a main character who never appears in the story: the missing teenager, Matt Willis. Since I wrote the original draft, I have met a real life <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00DQNCNZS/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&amp;text=Matthew+Willis&amp;search-alias=digital-text&amp;field-author=Matthew+Willis&amp;sort=relevancerank">Matt Willis</a> and wondered whether to change the name of my character but have been persuaded to let it stand. I guess this is why novels always have the warning note about characters not being based on real people.<br /><br />Anyway, the previous draft has now been edited (by moi), proofread by my wonderful friend Angie, who has been with me on this journey from the beginning, and has now been sent to the wonderful <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leigh-Forbes/e/B008F76J50">Leigh Forbes</a>, who is doing the techy schmecky stuff, including creating the series covers. I LOVE working with other people on their novels but I have to say it's felt really good to focus on my own stories again. Who knows? I may even find myself blogging more. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i>&nbsp;</i>http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/02/im-hybrid.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-6237217109387035665Sat, 02 Jan 2016 17:55:00 +00002016-01-02T17:55:21.557+00:00Happy 10th birthday to my blogThis blog is ten years old. A whole decade of blogging.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://annejosephson.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/happy_10th_birthday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://annejosephson.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/happy_10th_birthday.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />A lot has happened in the world since then and it's fascinating to look back at my early posts.<br /><br />I'm still spending a lot more time over on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/debi.alper.7">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/DebiAlper">Twitter</a> these days but have popped in here to announce that <i>De Nada Nirvana </i>is scheduled for publication in the next few months under my Nirvana Publishing imprint. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nirvana-Bites-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRFRG6/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1451756961&amp;sr=8-9&amp;keywords=debi+alper">Nirvana Bites</a> </i>and<i> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1451756961&amp;sr=8-6&amp;keywords=debi+alper">Trading Tatiana</a> </i>are already available and I intend to edit <i>Me, John and a Bomb </i>and <i>The Gene Pool </i>next, thereby completing the Nirvana series. Unless there's a miracle between now and then, I'll also be publishing <i>Somebody's Child, </i>the novel which my agent loved so much but has sadly been unable to sell.<br /><br />The only way I've been able to carve out time for my own writing has been to treat myself like a client. And, as a client, I've also felt free to tell my editor-self to piss off, as I break the rules the Editrix points out.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rbUtMMJBfBo/UVCtAxYPVwI/AAAAAAAABFY/hrKK3qMU7fc/s1600/cartoon_devil.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rbUtMMJBfBo/UVCtAxYPVwI/AAAAAAAABFY/hrKK3qMU7fc/s1600/cartoon_devil.gif" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2016/01/happy-10th-birthday-to-my-blog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-2857676849278308789Mon, 07 Sep 2015 15:58:00 +00002015-09-08T09:40:53.007+00:00#FoW15 in words and pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10610550_1024624330903083_6318309150163710543_n.jpg?oh=07688d45284c6493e9eb331c9b2fc67d&amp;oe=5670AE34" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10610550_1024624330903083_6318309150163710543_n.jpg?oh=07688d45284c6493e9eb331c9b2fc67d&amp;oe=5670AE34" width="176" /></a><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11350838_1599473930317808_1951541370013499664_n.jpg?oh=d6e5981401b63156cf04099cf35ff51e&amp;oe=5667159F" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />It's the morning after<a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/FestivalofWriting2015.html"> the weekend before</a> and, as ever, I feel jet-lagged, hung-over, culture-shocked (Real Life is WEIRD!) and, especially this year, very happy. Although previous years have been fab, it always felt like I spent a lot of time picking people up from the floor and handing them tissues. In some ways, that's not a bad thing. It shows how much they cared about what they do.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11350838_1599473930317808_1951541370013499664_n.jpg?oh=d6e5981401b63156cf04099cf35ff51e&amp;oe=5667159F" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11350838_1599473930317808_1951541370013499664_n.jpg?oh=d6e5981401b63156cf04099cf35ff51e&amp;oe=5667159F" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back: Sophie Wellstood, Mandy Berriman Front: Jody Klaire, Katherine Hetzel, John Taylor</td></tr></tbody></table>But here's the real point: those people who had dusted themselves off, who had taken on board the advice from their 1-1s, internalised what they learnt in the workshops and panels, and come back to the festie with sparkly new writing were the ones who, this year, had the affirmation they had worked so hard for. Time after time, I was approached by shiny-eyed people who had received really positive feedback from agents who want to see the whole MS. At least one, including my gorgeous mentee Mandy Berriman, was told by a top agent that they are 'really excited' by their stories. Another RL friend, Rachael Dunlop, faces the possibility of having to choose between several agents. Two Cloudie friends, Michelle Bromley and Hilary Taylor, were shortlisted for the Friday Night Live Competition and one, the fabulous Sophie Wellstood (who I first met when we accepted her submission for <a href="https://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a>) won the Opening Chapter competition.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xla1/v/t1.0-9/11960118_1024622774236572_4837668970782855519_n.jpg?oh=371dc2d7557f6d14d279263bdb349960&amp;oe=56712705" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xla1/v/t1.0-9/11960118_1024622774236572_4837668970782855519_n.jpg?oh=371dc2d7557f6d14d279263bdb349960&amp;oe=56712705" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shortlisted authors in the Friday Night Live competition</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;These are the competitions which have led to such runaway success in the past for authors such as <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/i-was-blind-but-guest-post-from-shelley-harris/">Shelley Harris</a>, <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/festival-success-friday-night-live-comp-deborah-install/">Deborah Install</a> and <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/festival-success-and-overcoming-big-scary-things-jo-cannons-story/">Jo Cannon</a>. (Click the links to see their FoW stories.) And these are just a few of the people I know who were wearing ear-to-ear grins this time. Truly, my cup runneth over.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11259743_1024622477569935_1938532069060944889_n.jpg?oh=4dd303d2e566ab5b9d3e10a7229f471a&amp;oe=56AB6745" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11259743_1024622477569935_1938532069060944889_n.jpg?oh=4dd303d2e566ab5b9d3e10a7229f471a&amp;oe=56AB6745" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrew Wille, Deborah Install and Jenny Savill</td></tr></tbody></table>When I stood in for <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/harry-bingham-author.html">Harry Bingham</a> on Saturday night, I asked for a show of hands. How many people were festie returnees? I calculated approximately a third. When I asked our self-edit alumni to come up on stage for a group photo, I was blown away to see that about 30 of the 179 people who have taken the course so far were at the festival. These are the people who, by dedicating themselves to their craft and demonstrating their commitment to their writing, are now reaping the harvest of all that hard work.<br /><br />A reminder that the self-edit course runs 4 times a year and consists of detailed tutorials to give you the tools of creative writing, and exercises which are based on your own WIP, thereby showing how to apply the tools to your own story. See <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/get-your-self-edit-toolkit-here.html">here</a> for some feedback and <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">here</a> for the syllabus and booking details.<br /><br />Huge thanks to everyone who has tweeted, FBd and emailed their appreciation following the mini course, workshops and 1-1s. The Psychic Distance workshop was, as ever, the one that blew people's minds, even though it was the last workshop of a packed weekend. More than one person said the insights almost brought them to tears but then it was the end of a totes emosh weekend for all of us. Do check out <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/psychic-distance-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it.html">Emma Darwin's blogposts on PD</a> to get those synapses firing.<br /><br />If anyone is itching for more writerly input before FoW16, I'll be running workshops at <a href="http://getwritingday.verulamwriterscircle.org.uk/">Verulam Writers' Get Writing Day</a> on 26 Sept and also a one day <a href="http://www.theplacetowrite.co.uk/The_Place_To_Write/Welcome.html">Craft of Writing event in Exeter</a> for The Place to Write on 10 Oct.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/10686695_1024624310903085_6498204803702266975_n.jpg?oh=bfd17e98878f953669a73c7daa1e3d11&amp;oe=565F3F4D" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/10686695_1024624310903085_6498204803702266975_n.jpg?oh=bfd17e98878f953669a73c7daa1e3d11&amp;oe=565F3F4D" width="176" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">York Uni is a stunning setting</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gOiLUpnFawA/Ve2ptQHGECI/AAAAAAAACkk/MZDYPjs4bOo/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gOiLUpnFawA/Ve2ptQHGECI/AAAAAAAACkk/MZDYPjs4bOo/s320/DSC_0002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the wonderful Writers' Workshop team</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/v/t1.0-9/11990571_1023399561025560_3227852818280573561_n.jpg?oh=08f8121bfd37bd3f7ba5a98b3d765bd3&amp;oe=565EB7F5" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/v/t1.0-9/11990571_1023399561025560_3227852818280573561_n.jpg?oh=08f8121bfd37bd3f7ba5a98b3d765bd3&amp;oe=565EB7F5" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delegates and pros trickling in</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQ1rutKwFWU/Ve2p5LojurI/AAAAAAAACks/uVH9ldTG5sI/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQ1rutKwFWU/Ve2p5LojurI/AAAAAAAACks/uVH9ldTG5sI/s320/DSC_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jane Ayres and Moira Please, who run The Place to Write</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11987174_1024622420903274_6023736245407770567_n.jpg?oh=8df31033ca416580e0d28caf2dad9a0a&amp;oe=565D3B24" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11987174_1024622420903274_6023736245407770567_n.jpg?oh=8df31033ca416580e0d28caf2dad9a0a&amp;oe=565D3B24" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mandy Berriman and Janette Owen - natural storytellers</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/11953287_1024622527569930_4725719370716345507_n.jpg?oh=93adbd1e6d8a94f06bf4913ded166863&amp;oe=56A5CAE5" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/11953287_1024622527569930_4725719370716345507_n.jpg?oh=93adbd1e6d8a94f06bf4913ded166863&amp;oe=56A5CAE5" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No caption needed. Well worth the indigestion</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11954746_1024624060903110_429566473781287026_n.jpg?oh=b540805c736b6fc55fc5cfeb594aebbd&amp;oe=56A8F57B" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11954746_1024624060903110_429566473781287026_n.jpg?oh=b540805c736b6fc55fc5cfeb594aebbd&amp;oe=56A8F57B" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Craig Taylor at the controls</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11951957_1024624294236420_4837219301580627026_n.jpg?oh=672afa23613af51648fad985c1136d60&amp;oe=5676D394" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11951957_1024624294236420_4837219301580627026_n.jpg?oh=672afa23613af51648fad985c1136d60&amp;oe=5676D394" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For the first time - a DISCO!</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-9/11951368_1024624367569746_6718652460734171939_n.jpg?oh=013a84b5f80f241090a0b138ebc02ae5&amp;oe=566D7672" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-9/11951368_1024624367569746_6718652460734171939_n.jpg?oh=013a84b5f80f241090a0b138ebc02ae5&amp;oe=566D7672" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discovering the magic of Psychic Distance</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11822531_1024624344236415_2302637284839593372_n.jpg?oh=47c18f51502e8f3d539629ddab367747&amp;oe=56A872C9" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11822531_1024624344236415_2302637284839593372_n.jpg?oh=47c18f51502e8f3d539629ddab367747&amp;oe=56A872C9" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy birthday, WW!</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-9/11951368_1024624367569746_6718652460734171939_n.jpg?oh=013a84b5f80f241090a0b138ebc02ae5&amp;oe=566D7672" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One final thing, which I post while attempting to uncurl my toes. Several people had a go at me for not talking more about my own books and writing so I'm just slipping in here that <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nirvana-Bites-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRFRG6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1441640447&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=Debi+Alper">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trading-Tatiana-Debi-Alper-ebook/dp/B010NRG12U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1441640447&amp;sr=8-4&amp;keywords=Debi+Alper">Trading Tatiana</a> are now available as e-books and yes, I will try to get the next 3 out there too at some point.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLFdPneoKrg/Ve6tAJHbnHI/AAAAAAAAClw/PcMMnBeeHDc/s1600/TT_CANDLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUmi9_TB5CE/Ve2xXLAj_9I/AAAAAAAACk4/1_Y_OdguYHI/s1600/NB%2Be%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUmi9_TB5CE/Ve2xXLAj_9I/AAAAAAAACk4/1_Y_OdguYHI/s200/NB%2Be%2Bcover.jpg" width="125" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLFdPneoKrg/Ve6tAJHbnHI/AAAAAAAAClw/PcMMnBeeHDc/s1600/TT_CANDLE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLFdPneoKrg/Ve6tAJHbnHI/AAAAAAAAClw/PcMMnBeeHDc/s200/TT_CANDLE.jpg" width="125" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQ1rutKwFWU/Ve2p5LojurI/AAAAAAAACks/uVH9ldTG5sI/s1600/DSC_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2015/09/fow15-in-words-and-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-2055967810936690040Thu, 07 May 2015 12:23:00 +00002015-05-07T12:50:20.695+00:00Lovely bloggersA glance down my list of recent posts shows I've been a lazy blogger for some time now. I'm so busy, and there are so many other people who say what I would about the craft of writing better than I can, so I spend most of my online activity accessing the quick fix of Facebook and Twitter.<br /><br />So why am I posting now? Well, I've been shamed into it by the wonderful <a href="http://www.literarylightbox.com/one-lovely-blog-award/">Loretta Milan</a> who has declared this blog to be lovely.&nbsp;<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="One_Lovely_Blog_Award" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1442" src="http://www.literarylightbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/One_Lovely_Blog_Award-150x150.jpg" height="150" width="150" />&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>To accept the award, there are a few things nominees have to do…</b><br /><ul><li>Thank the person who nominated them for the award.</li><li>Add the One Lovely Blog logo to their post.</li><li>Share 7 facts/or things about themselves.</li><li>Nominate up to 15 bloggers they admire and inform nominees by commenting on their blog.</li></ul>I've ticked off 1) and 2) so here are 7 personal facts that you might not know about me. In no particular order:<br /><ol><li>&nbsp;I can speak backwards fluently.</li><li>I covered my hair for 6 years when I was in my 30s. In that time, more people saw my breasts than the top of my head.</li><li>One of my eyes is lighter than the other.</li><li>In another lifetime, I would have been an archaeologist.</li><li>I'm the shortest person in my immediate family by over a foot.</li><li>I was made homeless when I was seven months pregnant.</li><li>I once lost the losers' race at my primary school, despite being the oldest child competing.</li></ol>There we go. Please note: I will NOT be elaborating on any of the above.&nbsp; <br /><br />And herewith my nominees, bearing in mind that Loretta has named many I would and <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-scribbles-get-their-first-award.html">Squidge has named</a> some more of my favourites. I've chosen the ones I think are most useful/entertaining and, in some cases, it wouldn't be appropriate to leave a comment on their blog so I'm just putting these up here as a resource.<br /><br />Jackie Buxton's <a href="http://jackiebuxton.blogspot.co.uk/">Agenthood and Submissionville</a><br />Isabel Rogers' blog <a href="http://isabelrogers.org/">never promises to be entirely serious</a><br />A collective of bibliophiles talking about books - <a href="https://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/">Vulpes Libris&nbsp;</a><br />Rachael Dunlop's blog, <a href="http://rachaeldunlop.blogspot.co.uk/">Butterflies</a><br />Writers' Workshop <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/">House Blog </a><br /><a href="http://agenthunter.co.uk/blog/">Agent Hunter blog</a><br />Nicola Morgan's <a href="https://www.nicolamorgan.com/category/heartsong-blog/">Heartsong </a><br />And though she no longer posts there, Nicola's <a href="http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.co.uk/">Help! I Need a Publisher</a> is a treasure trove of useful advice<br />I know Squidge mentioned Chuck Wendig, but his <a href="http://terribleminds.com/">Terrible Minds</a> blog merits a mention here too <br />The ramblings of a few scattered authors - <a href="http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.co.uk/">An Awfully Big Blog Adventure</a><br />Norman Geras sadly died in October 2013, but his <a href="http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/">normblog</a> remains as a beacon of sanity in a naughty world<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<img alt="Authors for Nepal" class="profilePic img" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-xat1/v/t1.0-1/p160x160/11160657_978606502179677_768518093034374166_n.jpg?oh=e09b0f0b15de5da4f8c3573d83f35114&amp;oe=55DA5D45&amp;__gda__=1440450409_1505a20e807249d5d0f5fc584b491337" /></div><br />While I'm here and have you attention, do you know about <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_nkw&amp;_armrs=1&amp;_from&amp;_ssn=authorsfornepal2015&amp;rt=nc">Authors for Philippines</a>? Set up by the wonderful <a href="http://www.juliawilliamsauthor.com/">Julia Williams</a>, you can<a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_nkw&amp;_armrs=1&amp;_from&amp;_ssn=authorsfornepal2015&amp;rt=nc"> bid on ebay</a> for all kinds of goodies including signed books, illustrations, named characters and critiques. Every penny goes directly to help the Nepalese people in the wake of the devastating earthquake. My offer of a crit of synopsis and first 5000 words of a novel is <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Critiques-and-mentoring-Debi-Alper-/171775544978?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&amp;hash=item27fe9ece92">here</a>. <br /><br />Right, I'm off. I'll try not to leave it so long before I post again. Thanks again to Loretta's <a href="http://www.literarylightbox.com/">Literary Lightbox</a> for bringing me out of the shadows. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>http://debialper.blogspot.com/2015/05/lovely-bloggers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-3207393739893697414Thu, 12 Feb 2015 16:18:00 +00002015-02-12T16:18:38.455+00:00Hold the front pageHmmm. The ups and downs of authordom. For reasons too complex to go into, I have ended my contract with the e-publisher and have negotiated the rights back. This means that, for a while at least, my novels will no longer be available in e-format. I fully intend to self-publish them, as well as the next three in the Nirvana series, and will be on the case ASAP. <br /><br />In the meantime, if you want to know just how bumpy the road can be for authors, check out Harry Bingham's journey in his <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/">blog posts on the Writers' Workshop site</a>. Pulls no punches, does our Harry. <br /><br /><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2015/02/hold-front-page.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-5175152088172268865Mon, 06 Oct 2014 14:57:00 +00002015-02-12T16:32:17.580+00:00Electronic Nirvana<span style="font-size: large;"><b>NB: this post has been superseded by the next one but, in the interests of keeping an accurate record, I will leave this one to stand.</b></span><br /><br />When it comes to self-promo, it's very much a matter of do as I say, not as I do. Hates it, I does, but it's essential if I want to sell any of my own books. So here goes ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/aa9362ff-5e6c-479b-a878-90f2868592d5/180/1000/False/nirvana-bites-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/aa9362ff-5e6c-479b-a878-90f2868592d5/180/1000/False/nirvana-bites-1.jpg" /></a></div><br />I'm delighted to announce that my first two novels, <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/?page_id=36">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/?page_id=38">Trading Tatiana</a>, are now available as e-books. They were originally published by Orion in 2002 and 2005 respectively and it's great to know that they will now be available to a new and wider readership via US indie publisher, <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/">Dzanc Books</a> as part of their <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/reprint-series-books/">rEprint series</a>. If you would like to know more about the novels, including extracts and reviews, please click on the books tab on <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/">my website</a>. The e-books are available <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/search?q=Debi%20Alper">direct from Dzanc here</a> or from the usual other places: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&amp;field-keywords=debi%20alper&amp;sprefix=Debi+Alpe%2Cdigital-text%2C1287">Kindle</a> and <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/search?Query=Debi+Alper&amp;fcmedia=Book">Kobo</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/c1a6d578-e21b-4d65-a96a-0994866d7a40/180/1000/False/trading-tatiana-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://kbimages1-a.akamaihd.net/c1a6d578-e21b-4d65-a96a-0994866d7a40/180/1000/False/trading-tatiana-1.jpg" /></a></div><br />This has given me the impetus to self-publish the next three novels in the Nirvana series. That will mean my Nirvanans will eventually represent every type of publishing, from trade, through indie to self-publishing. An interesting journey. Before I can execute the next stage I'll need to edit the MSs though. I had a quick scan and realised there's a lot that needs to be changed. They never went through an external editing process but, fortunately, I now have the distance (and skills) to self-edit them. I just need to find the time.<br /><br />And if there's one thing I'm even worse at than self-promo, it's finding time for my own writing. http://debialper.blogspot.com/2014/10/electronic-nirvana.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-5058845605558684699Mon, 15 Sep 2014 13:48:00 +00002014-09-16T11:58:13.384+00:00#FoW14 in picturesIn previous years, I've live-blogged the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/FestivalofWriting2014.html">Festival of Writing</a> in York. This year, I've decided to let my photos do the talking.There are plenty more on Twitter on the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&amp;q=%23FoW14&amp;src=typd">#FoW14</a> and on <a href="https://twitter.com/festivalwriting">@festivalwriting</a>'s profile. I will add more as I come across them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxVt-P9CUAAv0OA.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxVt-P9CUAAv0OA.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a> and I re-hashed our double act for the self-edit mini course.<br />Here's Emma - using chalk!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxZr8kBCEAE2jNZ.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxZr8kBCEAE2jNZ.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp; <a href="http://www.cathybramleyauthor.com/">Cathy Bramley</a>, who says her life was changed by the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">online self-edit course</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxZ0efAIAAANDba.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxZ0efAIAAANDba.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My FoW14 slogan</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxZ3TfxCcAIGg4C.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxZ3TfxCcAIGg4C.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Workshop attendees wrestling with <span data-dobid="hdw">clichés</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxaOlyQIUAA836o.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxaOlyQIUAA836o.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">York wouldn't be York without at least one duck photo</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbbU88CQAAYYnS.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbbU88CQAAYYnS.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;The view from my bedroom window</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxbs9oQIYAAnJXI.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxbs9oQIYAAnJXI.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;Gala dinner</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbuU7_CAAAtvGW.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbuU7_CAAAtvGW.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://shelleyharris.co.uk/">Shelley Harris</a> and <a href="http://www.jounwin.co.uk/">Jo Unwin</a> announcing the results of the Opening Chapter competition</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxbuw7MIIAAt9FJ.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxbuw7MIIAAt9FJ.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://joannacannon.wordpress.com/about/">Joanna Cannon</a>, winner of Friday Night Live and runner up in the Opening Chapter competition</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbvvTLIUAAomQe.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxbvvTLIUAAomQe.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://notimetoblogg.wordpress.com/">Sara Green</a>, winner of the Opening Chapter competition</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxb0IWPCQAE6yWk.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxb0IWPCQAE6yWk.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/blog/the-blackbird-effect-guest-post-by-john-taylor/">John Taylor</a> and <a href="http://jodyklaire.wordpress.com/">Jody Klaire</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxfL3dHIMAAf56g.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxfL3dHIMAAf56g.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">All hail to the wonderful 1-1 guardians.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: <a href="http://ellenhanns.com/">Ellen Hanns</a>, <a href="http://markclementson.com/">Mark Clementson</a> and <a href="http://susankfranklin.blogspot.co.uk/">Susan Franklin</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxajnVvIEAANLf-.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxajnVvIEAANLf-.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Because everyone knows writers need cake</div><div style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://www.imranwrites.com/tag/imran-siddiq/">Imran Siddiq</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10675688_827780643920787_2483506197847152973_n.jpg?oh=6dad52a2912be04164613561bcefbf92&amp;oe=549C7CB5" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10675688_827780643920787_2483506197847152973_n.jpg?oh=6dad52a2912be04164613561bcefbf92&amp;oe=549C7CB5" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>&nbsp;Some of the awesome team assembled by <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/About-us.html">Writers' Workshop&nbsp;</a><br />Massive shout out to Laura and Nikki who don't get nearly enough credit.<br />Without them, there would be no FoW.&nbsp; <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10710646_827780413920810_2497666060097229452_n.jpg?oh=cc45a29966519fb7cea7e1dfa5ba5f84&amp;oe=549D8547&amp;__gda__=1418268833_5b66c0fb32ea2800e9e8823e9d054a30" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10710646_827780413920810_2497666060097229452_n.jpg?oh=cc45a29966519fb7cea7e1dfa5ba5f84&amp;oe=549D8547&amp;__gda__=1418268833_5b66c0fb32ea2800e9e8823e9d054a30" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>&nbsp;Agent table tennis (no, I'm not quite sure why either)<br />featuring <a href="http://www.rcwlitagency.com/agents/sam-copeland/">Sam Copeland</a> and <a href="http://www.greeneheaton.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=37">Chris Wellbelove</a>, with <a href="http://www.theagencygroup.com/agent/juliet-mushens/">Juliet Mushens</a> keeping score</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxfz6B-CUAA5KWM.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bxfz6B-CUAA5KWM.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">These lucky writers have just discovered the magic of Psychic Distance</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10614122_826857740679744_6427079561936729293_n.jpg?oh=e45a93c791ce894c62fb91991a4d09a2&amp;oe=548F45F1&amp;__gda__=1419170479_2993ebb71d0602fe0d2dcedc061ab576" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10614122_826857740679744_6427079561936729293_n.jpg?oh=e45a93c791ce894c62fb91991a4d09a2&amp;oe=548F45F1&amp;__gda__=1419170479_2993ebb71d0602fe0d2dcedc061ab576" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<span class="userContent">I met an empath at FoW14. And <a href="http://jodyklaire.wordpress.com/the-empath-above-beyond-series/">her book</a> rocks. (T-shirt's good too.)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p296x100/10704059_1461229154142287_8359904739292735918_n.jpg?oh=d5c746bc29e94b8fe2d8852835aea0d7&amp;oe=54CDEB8D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p296x100/10704059_1461229154142287_8359904739292735918_n.jpg?oh=d5c746bc29e94b8fe2d8852835aea0d7&amp;oe=54CDEB8D" width="180" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent">&nbsp;With <a href="http://jodyklaire.wordpress.com/">JK</a> - she's the one with proper proportions.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent">I'm the one who apparently has a huge head and teensy body</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10422392_827782450587273_9014036353083788882_n.jpg?oh=e52b0695fc1d82c9e8ac62b983d7bb19&amp;oe=54C867DC&amp;__gda__=1419072597_a9bf0c904a84cced86175ca88207dfc4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10422392_827782450587273_9014036353083788882_n.jpg?oh=e52b0695fc1d82c9e8ac62b983d7bb19&amp;oe=54C867DC&amp;__gda__=1419072597_a9bf0c904a84cced86175ca88207dfc4" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="userContent"><a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/">&nbsp;Katherine Hetzel </a>and <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/">Jody Klaire</a>&nbsp;</span><br /><span class="userContent">- the only authors who offer Welsh cakes as well as books</span><br /><span class="userContent"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10402792_827783777253807_6088323496010403107_n.jpg?oh=3b81286e71bfbd90219e7fd09196fbdf&amp;oe=54D06331&amp;__gda__=1422734295_13b0cfec81e4e4d94fbf6c94ea6b08ca" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/10402792_827783777253807_6088323496010403107_n.jpg?oh=3b81286e71bfbd90219e7fd09196fbdf&amp;oe=54D06331&amp;__gda__=1422734295_13b0cfec81e4e4d94fbf6c94ea6b08ca" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="userContent"><a href="http://howtotellagreatstory.com/blog/about-aneeta/">Aneeta Sundararaj</a> came all the way from Malaysia for the festie</span><br /><span class="userContent"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/1919665_827784600587058_7666982142175099447_n.jpg?oh=484f1b2471d00a6979786c754b08c03f&amp;oe=549B9490&amp;__gda__=1419479623_9d907fe8920890639633757af940cebe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/1919665_827784600587058_7666982142175099447_n.jpg?oh=484f1b2471d00a6979786c754b08c03f&amp;oe=549B9490&amp;__gda__=1419479623_9d907fe8920890639633757af940cebe" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="userContent">L-R: Mandy Berriman, John Taylor, yours truly and <a href="http://rachaeldunlop.blogspot.co.uk/">Rachael Dunlop</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p280x280/10538610_10152697251127603_3472471374686651475_n.jpg?oh=48eb76ecf7a99f24bb5b68ae41a61850&amp;oe=54CADB0B&amp;__gda__=1419341744_ee4b0ea4b3f94c0c6b301c3ab40ed7f9" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p280x280/10538610_10152697251127603_3472471374686651475_n.jpg?oh=48eb76ecf7a99f24bb5b68ae41a61850&amp;oe=54CADB0B&amp;__gda__=1419341744_ee4b0ea4b3f94c0c6b301c3ab40ed7f9" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent">Cloudie alert! (Links are to <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/">Cloud</a> profiles)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent">Back L-R:<a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/6900"> Hil</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/590">Skylark</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/9979">Xander</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/2095">Flickimp</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/my_profile.html">moi</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/249">John Taylor</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent">Front L-R: <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/">Squidge</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/8018">Jody Klaire</a>, <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/1558">BlueDiamondMist&nbsp;</a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent"><b>UPDATE: the official photos have now been posted on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.838842566147867.1073741827.180263105339153&amp;type=1">Festival's Facebook page</a>.&nbsp;</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent"><b>And here's one of the photos of the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">online self-edit course</a> alumni. &nbsp;</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent"><b><a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma</a> and I couldn't be more proud. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8DMqF8K9Imw/VBgbGVx1anI/AAAAAAAAAn8/ETqNxdCkpS8/s1600/DSC_0189%5B1%5D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8DMqF8K9Imw/VBgbGVx1anI/AAAAAAAAAn8/ETqNxdCkpS8/s1600/DSC_0189%5B1%5D.jpeg" height="180" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="userContent"><b>&nbsp;</b>Photo by <a href="http://www.nedavid.com/">NE David</a></span><br /><br /><span class="userContent"><b>And another - this one by our Squidge, who has posted yet more pix on <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/fow14-what-weekend.html">her blog</a>.</b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mYMeHDqd0ec/VBgXuwqfCBI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/VLIRBdB7ERk/s1600/self%2Bedit%2Bcourse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mYMeHDqd0ec/VBgXuwqfCBI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/VLIRBdB7ERk/s1600/self%2Bedit%2Bcourse.JPG" height="205" width="320" /></a></div><span class="userContent"><b>&nbsp;</b>Photo by <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/">Katherine Hetzel</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="userContent"><b>&nbsp;</b> </span></div></div>http://debialper.blogspot.com/2014/09/fow14-in-pictures.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-2714041701506176143Tue, 01 Jul 2014 20:13:00 +00002014-07-01T20:13:45.127+00:00Adventures in CyberspaceI was interviewed recently by <a href="http://www.julietomlin.co.uk/wordpress/">Julie Tomlin</a> for <a href="http://www.digitalwomenuk.co.uk/">Digital Women UK</a> about my online journey. You can go straight to the interview <a href="http://www.digitalwomenuk.co.uk/social-media-as-a-political-tool/">here</a>. It was interesting - and fun - to look back over the almost-ten-years since this blog first emerged, blinking in the blinding light of cyberspace, in Jan 2006. And you know what conclusion I came to when I looked back over this journey? This is a great time to be alive. The contacts I've made online with people who enrich my life in so many ways - people I would never have met if we lived in a different time - are part of a phenomenon unique to our generation.<br /><br />When my Teen1 went to Cambodia and Goa earlier this year, I saw photos of sights at the same time as he saw them or soon after. In the Cambodian evenings and UK mornings, we would chat about how he was doing as a volunteer at <a href="http://www.anjali-house.com/">Anjali House</a>. Sometimes we'd be popping in and out of chats over an hour or so. (Didn't happen when he was in Goa, where he was with friends, but that was OK too.) Compare that to when I was in Grenada and my parents relied on the occasional hand-written letter or a rare phone call when I could make it to the Cable &amp; Wireless office in the capital.<br /><br />These days, this blog is pretty dormant. I gave up thinking I had to post regularly and took the pressure off, posting only when I have something to say that wouldn't fit into a tweet or FB status. Since I'm doing a review of my online journey, I just checked my stats for the first time in I don't know how long. 93,197 people have visited this blog and there have been 151,920 page views. That's a lorra lorra clicks.<br /><br />While I'm here, I thought I'd do a quick round up of what I'm up to. I'm currently hosting the 12th <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">6-week <b>online</b> self-edit course</a> together with <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a>. Emma and I knew each other for about 6 months <b>online </b>before we worked out that we lived a few doors away from each other. The vast majority of my editing work comes to me <b>online, </b>either through <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/?page_id=326">my website</a> or via <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/critiques.html">Writers' Workshop</a>. I recently ran a workshop for the delightful <a href="http://chilternwriters.org/">Chiltern Writers' Group</a> who approached me<b> online</b>. The <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/FestivalofWriting2014.html">Festival of Writing</a> in York sells all its places <b>online</b>. I have another workshop lined up in October for <a href="http://verulamwriterscircle.org.uk/">Verulam Writers' Circle</a> who found me <b>online</b>. Also in October, I will be running workshops and Book Doctor sessions at a <a href="http://www.theplacetowrite.co.uk/The_Place_To_Write/What_can_you_expect_at_Llanthony.html">retreat in a 12th century monastery</a> run by <a href="http://www.theplacetowrite.co.uk/The_Place_To_Write/Welcome.html">The Place to Write</a>. The same people have asked me to do the same sort of thing at a different retreat in January 2015. Needless to say, this came via <b>online</b> contacts. I'm currently forming links between <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a> and <a href="http://journeytojustice.org.uk/">Journey to Justice.</a> The latter is particularly interesting in this context because the project's aim is to build on the civil rights movement and other historical struggles to tackle injustice today. Just look at what we can do in terms of mobilisation now that was not available just a couple of decades ago.<br /><br />Wonder what this will all look like in ten years time. Yes. This is a good time to be alive. http://debialper.blogspot.com/2014/07/adventures-in-cyberspace.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-2684470574158963419Wed, 12 Mar 2014 12:12:00 +00002014-03-12T12:37:30.873+00:00Get your self-edit toolkit hereCompleting a full draft of a novel is an awesome achievement and one which should be celebrated but, on its own, it's not enough. Whether you intend to pitch to agents or self-publish your novel, you need to polish your MS until it sparkles and it's hard to do that on your own. A critique is one possibility. According to the 120+ people who have done the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">Writers' Workshop 6-week online Self-Edit Your Novel </a>course, is another option and one that you won't regret.<br /><br /><a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a> and I designed the course together. Hosted in a private group on the <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/">Word Cloud</a>, each week, there's a short video introduction and a detailed tutorial. The homework we set is based on participants' own novels and we workshop the exercises together in the group. In other words, the course is designed to give you the tools of creative writing and then show how you can apply them to your own MS. <br /><br />In a couple of weeks, the 11th course begins, adding to the wonderful groups we've had over the last years. The fruits for many of those on the earlier courses are beginning to be harvested. How amazing is it to hear that authors have gone on to success and credit the course for getting them there? It can't and won't happen for everyone, but we can guarantee that the standard of your writing will shoot up several levels as a result of those 6 weeks. If you're not sure if the course is for you because, say, you're not confident about your grammar, have a look at <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2013/10/would-love-to-do-a-writing-course-but-dont-know-any-grammar.html">Emma's blog here.</a> Check <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/forum/topic/6740">here</a> for an example of the sort of detail we go into in the Prose Microscope week.<br /><br />One of the advantages of the course is its flexibility and the way you can fit it into your Real Life (though some will say it tends to take over for those 6 sweaty, intense weeks). Also, the groups stay in place on the Cloud for EVER, and several have continued to function as online writers' groups after the course finishes.<br /><br />But don't take my word about how good it is. I'd rather you hear it from some of our self-edit graduates. Jules Ironside blogged about it<a href="http://chasedbywords.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/candle-flames-light-bulbs-flash-bulbs.html?m=1"> here.</a> Below is a selection of quotes from various posts on the Cloud.<br /><br /><i>It's a really fab course - you won't regret a moment on it ... what I've written since has taken leaps forward in terms of writer's craft and how I feel about what I write.</i><br />Squidge<br /><br /><i>Some of our group are still meeting ... and offering pieces to read and critique ... the SE course gave me the tools to look critically at my own work ...to stand apart from my baby and be a bit less emotional about it. Clear and supportive, but not namby pambying direction from Debi and Emma got me to the stage where I <span style="text-decoration: underline;">understood</span> that writing is re-writing, rather than just spouting the phrase. So, absolutely excellent investment into your future as a writer!&nbsp; </i><i></i><br />Bernie<br /><br /><i>The six weeks was the most writing-related fun I've ever had</i><i> ... the best investment in your writing you'll ever make ... The course does much more than teach you how to edit. It teaches you to be an all-round better writer. Yes, in six weeks.</i><br /><div>Richard B</div><div><i> </i></div><div><i>Do this course. Your writing will level up and you'll get more weapons.&nbsp;</i></div><div>Barb<br /><br /></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i>It has given me the confidence to pull the whole WIP apart and weave it back together, hopefully with better materials!&nbsp;</i></div><div>Woollybeans<br /><br /></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i>Do it. Get the money - sell the car / kids / a kidney, it doesn't matter ... JUST DO IT!! The skills learned on this course don't just apply to the WIP you work on, but to ALL your writing - it's invaluable, and I have never, ever regretted doing it.&nbsp;</i></div><div>CJ<br /></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i>I have not had so much intense fun in ages (but then I'm an engineer...). No hesitation in recommending it unreservedly. Forget low energy lightbulbs, all my light bulb moments were high energy incandescent! And Debi is a saint, generous and patient and tough and wise. Emma is a font of wisdom. And on my group the course buddies were awesome.</i></div><div>Bric<br /></div><div></div><div><i>It was revolutionary for me. Can't believe how much I learned and am still learning. Still have the support of my classmates over in our little group too so well worth it! </i></div><div>LinsP<br /></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i>We had Young Adult, Historical, alternative universes, magic powers, crossed continents, burgeoning super-spies and family sagas; a veritable Waterstone's of WIPs - and yet they all worked together ... more arc-lights than lightbulbs, and yes, although it's an editing course, it's very much a be a better writer course ... you don't just get the guidance of one uber-editrix, you also get however-many-other-people-are-on-the-course editors too. Do the course. Do it. Do it. Do it (everybody now,) Do it. Do it. Do it...</i></div>Van<br /><br /><i>I couldn't imagine more perfect teachers. Not only are you both writers that I admire and not only do you both know your craft inside and out, but also you know how to share your 'toolkit' and teach others how to pick up and use the tools ... you never made us feel stupid for not knowing or asking questions, but have always been ready to come to the rescue with answers, links and encouragement ... combined with humour, kindness and the right amount of challenge. </i><br />Susie <br /><br /><i>... your energy and care for detail has surpassed anything I could have possibly expected. Your fierce support has been like medicine to our lows and your praise when we have got things right has given us wings. On this occasion, even with the help of this course, words are inadequate to relay my depth of gratitude.&nbsp;</i><br />J.net<br /><br /><i> </i><br /><i>In the past six weeks, I've been shown the error of my ways a number of times, but always with patience, humour and honest truth and a knowledge of the craft and an insight in how to impart it so as to enable us to improve.&nbsp;</i><br />Sandra<br /><br /><i> </i><br /><i>It blows my mind to look back at how far we have all come in six weeks. I started out as a leaky wee boat, but now, not only am I floating, I am sealing all the cracks instead of simply bailing out water.&nbsp;</i><br />Raine<br /><br />See<a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html"> here</a> for a breakdown<i> </i>of how we cover the subjects during the 6 weeks. Go <a href="http://bookwhen.com/writersworkshop">here</a> to book. The course runs 4 times a year, so there are plenty of options. Maybe use the date as a deadline to finish that first draft? Hope to see you there. http://debialper.blogspot.com/2014/03/get-your-self-edit-toolkit-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-7759831433593563899Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:04:00 +00002013-12-18T11:25:43.103+00:00Stories for Homes - making a difference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/971759_10151611793526259_1615282963_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="114" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/971759_10151611793526259_1615282963_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Watch out, I'm about to get philosophical on y'all.<br /><br />So what's it all about, eh, this life business? What's our purpose in being here? We all know that the answer to the meaning of l<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_the_Universe_and_Everything">ife, the universe and everything</a> is 42 but that can't be all there is to it, can it?<br /><br />With such a diversity of belief systems (or lack of) among us all, I reckon there's one thing we can agree on: we're here to make a difference. In the week that <a href="http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography">Nelson Mandela</a> died, we're all aware of the enormous difference one single person can make. Here's what Madiba said on the subject: <i>&nbsp;</i><br /><br /><i>“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”&nbsp;</i><br /><br />Madiba was unique, of course, but on a much smaller scale perhaps we can emulate his example. We're at our strongest when we join together, rather than act alone. I've seen people doing that recently. The<a href="http://authorsforphilippines.wordpress.com/"> Authors for Philippines</a> project raised over £50,000 for the Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan appeal and is just one example of a good deed in a naughty world.<br /><br />But the difference I'm posting about today is the <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a> project which was the result of a community of people united for one purpose: to create a world-class anthology of short stories on the theme of 'home' with all proceeds going to the housing and homelessness charity, <a href="http://shelter./">Shelter.</a><br /><br />You can see the background to the project in <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/stories-for-homes.html">this blog post</a> in July, which celebrated the launch of the e-book - <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Sally-Swingewood-ebook/dp/B00E8767XU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386632559&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=stories+for+homes">available here</a>. Our community of supporters have made a <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/promo-video/">promotional video</a>, supplied <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/stories-for-homes-launch.html">unique artwork</a>, come up with <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-editrix.html">genius ideas,</a> created a press release, contacted local and national media, emailed, blogged, Facebooked and tweeted. We've had authors, editors, proofreaders, designers, techy wizards, artists, journalists and more on board. There are far too many places where the anthology has been promoted for me to link to here. Check the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Stories%20for%20Homes&amp;src=typd&amp;f=realtime">#storiesforhomes on Twitter</a> for a full list.<br /><br />And readers, of course, we've had readers who have bought the book, knowing they can enjoy great writing while simultaneously sending money in Shelter's direction. Because we all know books need readers.<br /><br />We started here, back in June:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/p206x206/486_591315870900600_1191195779_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/p206x206/486_591315870900600_1191195779_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />The e-book was published in July and we watched as it leapt up the Kindle charts and the royalties flowed in. In less than four months, we raised almost £600. The reviews have awarded the collection an average of 4.8 stars and we knew we had achieved our aim. Truly, this is a world-class anthology and. most importantly, Shelter was receiving some serious money.<br /><br />And now, five months later, we're here:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1459771_662189413813245_2078230122_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1459771_662189413813245_2078230122_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The paperback was published a week ago (available <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Rob-Walton/dp/1493534246/ref=la_B0034QFUOI_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386633320&amp;sr=1-1">here</a>) and has already raised £213 in royalties at the time I'm posting. Add this to the money already raised from sales of the e-book and we've already made over £1000. We have a launch event at my fave indie bookshop, <a href="http://www.booksellercrow.co.uk/#">Bookseller Crow on the Hill,</a> coming up this Friday. (Other events will be taking place across the country.) Another talented person has joined our community and created this wonderful window display.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q71/s480x480/1475805_10152169820477932_490007645_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q71/s480x480/1475805_10152169820477932_490007645_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />But hang on, let's just take a moment to remember what all this is about. All the following info comes from <a href="http://england.shelter.org.uk/news">Shelter's news page.</a> 80,000 children will be homeless in the UK this Christmas. The highest number of families are in emergency accommodation for a decade. In over half the country, less than 10% of properties are affordable for a typical working family. 45% of people renting in the South West are living in homes that are damp, cold, overcrowded or in a bad state of repair. <br /><br />Shocking, isn't it? But behind the stats lie real people, real stories. You can see some of the people Shelter has helped<a href="http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_involved/our_case_studies"> here.</a> It's in order to help Shelter help those who need their support the most that the whole Stories for Homes project was brought into being, inspiring dozens of people to take part and hundreds more to buy the book. <br /><br />Please play your part. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Rob-Walton/dp/1493534246/ref=la_B0034QFUOI_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1386641184&amp;sr=1-1">Buy the book</a>. Post a review on&nbsp; Amazon. Come to the events. Tell others about the project.<br /><br />Make a difference.<br /><br />Going back to the point I made at the start of this post, I leave you with the Stories for Homes dedication page.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1002911_662241330474720_1232529331_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1002911_662241330474720_1232529331_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Thank you.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE 18/12/13</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since writing that post, I can report that we handed over a symbolic cheque to Shelter at the launch for the money raised so far!</div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1513304_10151769327425423_1905292219_n.jpg" width="320" />&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Can you see the amount on that cheque?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BbZWUiMIgAAe-yo.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BbZWUiMIgAAe-yo.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This includes 45 copies sold at the launch. Many of them were signed by all the authors who came from far and wide - including one who flew in from Germany.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1461173_10151769327890423_483169429_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1461173_10151769327890423_483169429_n.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We even had souvenir bookmarks.</div></li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/q71/s480x480/1472957_10152179682607932_172176008_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/q71/s480x480/1472957_10152179682607932_172176008_n.jpg" width="156" /></a> </div><br />In the days following the launch, we shot up the bestselling charts. At one point, we were number 5 in the bestselling paperback anthology charts, nestled between George Orwell and Doris Lessing. When you check out the massive marketing and publicity budgets behind the other books on the list and compare it to our shoestring-would-have-been-a-luxury budget this feat is all the more remarkable.<br /><br />Cyberspace has been flooded with SfH book blasts. See the comments <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/book-blast-stories-for-homes.html?showComment=1386758026942#c1042474166639422687">here on Squidge's Scribbles</a> for a full list. The momentum has built, more events are planned, more books will be sold, more money will be passed to Shelter to help them to help those who need their services the most.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BbY-syXIgAEC2ZC.jpg:large"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BbY-syXIgAEC2ZC.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2013/12/stories-for-homes-making-difference.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-4976255453490594279Tue, 03 Dec 2013 12:21:00 +00002013-12-03T12:21:22.420+00:00The EditrixFurther to my<a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/stories-for-homes-launch.html"> last post</a> about <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a>, the awesomely talented <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/8018">Jody Klaire</a> is creating profile pics of all the contributors. Here's mine! Note that the Editrix's pen drips blood.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1476420_734784733215723_208792053_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1476420_734784733215723_208792053_n.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-editrix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-6546275776930157445Mon, 02 Dec 2013 15:57:00 +00002013-12-02T15:57:11.868+00:00Stories for Homes launch<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;">This is just a quick post to let you know that the <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a> anthology in aid of <a href="http://england.shelter.org.uk/">Shelter</a> is now available in both<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Sally-Swingewood-ebook/dp/B00E8767XU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1385999470&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=stories+for+homes"> e-format</a> and as a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Homes-Sally-Swingewood/dp/1493534246/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1385981485&amp;sr=1-1">paperback</a>. The first launch event will be 13 Dec at my fave indie bookshop, <a href="http://www.booksellercrow.co.uk/">Bookseller Crow</a>. Details <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/book-launch-13th-december-2014/">here</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/999194_10202337956387260_1899240262_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/999194_10202337956387260_1899240262_n.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaflet credit Debs Riccio</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'm going to be blogging about the project in full on 11 December, when we intend to have a Book Blast of focused publicity in an effort to get #storiesforhomes trending on Twitter.http://debialper.blogspot.com/2013/12/stories-for-homes-launch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-1455031192598148214Mon, 16 Sep 2013 17:09:00 +00002013-09-16T19:47:48.948+00:00FoW13 - the day after the weekend beforeI did warn you I might not be able to live blog <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/events.html">the festie</a> this year. And so it came to pass. I quite literally was on the run the whole weekend and could never grab enough time to turn on my netbook for anything other than Powerpoint presentations for my workshops.<br /><br />So herewith a brisk round-up to the best of my ability. The photos might suggest that my course and workshops consisted of me making other people do all the work. Reality is that it was only when they were scribbling that I had the opportunity to take any pix. The photos might appear a bit same-y as a result, but I'm going to post them anyway as I think/hope it will be nice for people to spot themselves and others.<br /><br /><b>Day 1.</b> Friday begins with a minor panic when trains out of Kings Cross are all delayed or cancelled. Twitter was awash with panicking writers on their way to York. But, hey, we made it.<br /><br />And so straight into the self-edit mini course, with a lovely group of enthusiastic and engaged writers. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P0zSlTWJdMo/UjcUpm6BZfI/AAAAAAAAAgc/hBsJ2ArqLWk/s1600/York-20130913-00135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P0zSlTWJdMo/UjcUpm6BZfI/AAAAAAAAAgc/hBsJ2ArqLWk/s320/York-20130913-00135.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ISis2fuJZQ/UjcVhzU9L5I/AAAAAAAAAhI/ixhTOzjBm3A/s1600/IMG-20130914-00141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JkMi-Lx9BR8/UjcVhLiPFbI/AAAAAAAAAgk/LmYAy4ods4o/s1600/York-20130913-00136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JkMi-Lx9BR8/UjcVhLiPFbI/AAAAAAAAAgk/LmYAy4ods4o/s320/York-20130913-00136.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />There was just enough time to pick up my room key and drop off my bags, then I raced through the driving rain (unlike the glorious sunshine of previous years) to the Roger Kirk Centre for drink, food, drink, chat, drink, hugs.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUJGdDAIEAAiCcD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUJGdDAIEAAiCcD.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>WW photo</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nqyVTsbr8fQ/UjcVhgxNb3I/AAAAAAAAAgo/biMSaGVZY6Q/s1600/York-20130913-00137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nqyVTsbr8fQ/UjcVhgxNb3I/AAAAAAAAAgo/biMSaGVZY6Q/s320/York-20130913-00137.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.julie-cohen.com/">Julie Cohen</a> and <a href="http://www.nicolamorgan.com/">Nicola Morgan</a> showing how it's done.</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp;The Friday Night Live competition, where seven brave souls read 500 words of their WIPs to 3 'judges' and an audience of 400 was won by <a href="https://twitter.com/GabrielleKent">Gabrielle Kent</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUEVmDCIEAAjQnE.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUEVmDCIEAAjQnE.jpg:large" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">&nbsp;<i>WW photo</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>&nbsp;</i><b>Day 2. </b>Saturday begins with a keynote address by <a href="http://www.adeleparks.com/">Adele Parks.</a> Among her pearls of wisdom was an example of the perfect elevator pitch, which I referred to over and over again in my 1-1s.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0ohPN4vK5c/UjcViSVJ_bI/AAAAAAAAAgs/MTAGV4Zp-WA/s1600/York-20130914-00140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D0ohPN4vK5c/UjcViSVJ_bI/AAAAAAAAAgs/MTAGV4Zp-WA/s320/York-20130914-00140.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Then it was straight on to the prose microscope workshop. This was one I stepped into at the last minute to replace (as if I could) a workshop that would have been run by the fabulous <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/">Emma Darwin</a>, who had to pull out at the last minute. This was a smaller group, maybe twenty or so. (They even had tables to lean on.) I do like the fact that so many people used pen and paper for the exercises.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wGE-dE6_ONU/UjcVjKMSndI/AAAAAAAAAg0/LGrGAGIbZOo/s1600/York-20130914-00142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wGE-dE6_ONU/UjcVjKMSndI/AAAAAAAAAg0/LGrGAGIbZOo/s320/York-20130914-00142.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Ten minutes later, I was chairing the thriller/crime genre panel with industry experts <a href="https://twitter.com/davidhaviland">David Haviland</a> (author and agent with <a href="http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/">Andrew Lownie</a>), <a href="https://twitter.com/crime_queen">Alison Hennessey</a> (senior crime editor at <a href="http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/about-us/harvill-secker/">Harvill Secker</a>) and <a href="https://twitter.com/suziedoore">Suzie Doore </a>(editorial director at<a href="http://Hodder and Stoughton"> Hodder and Stoughton</a>). <br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ISis2fuJZQ/UjcVhzU9L5I/AAAAAAAAAhI/ixhTOzjBm3A/s1600/IMG-20130914-00141.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hk1TCbZon0o/UjcVj7vBuGI/AAAAAAAAAhM/jpkuEp46QRg/s1600/York-20130914-00143.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hk1TCbZon0o/UjcVj7vBuGI/AAAAAAAAAhM/jpkuEp46QRg/s320/York-20130914-00143.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ISis2fuJZQ/UjcVhzU9L5I/AAAAAAAAAhI/ixhTOzjBm3A/s1600/IMG-20130914-00141.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At least the sun was shining today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ISis2fuJZQ/UjcVhzU9L5I/AAAAAAAAAhI/ixhTOzjBm3A/s1600/IMG-20130914-00141.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ISis2fuJZQ/UjcVhzU9L5I/AAAAAAAAAhI/ixhTOzjBm3A/s1600/IMG-20130914-00141.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ISis2fuJZQ/UjcVhzU9L5I/AAAAAAAAAhI/ixhTOzjBm3A/s320/IMG-20130914-00141.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Straight after lunch, an hour of 1-1s was followed by a rammed workshop for exploring the magic of Psychic Distance. If you missed it, do check out <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/resources.html">Emma Darwin's blog</a>. Actually, check out Emma's blog anyway. It's packed with writerly insights into PD and much, much more. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uwrO-OpcDE0/UjcVkiNPDkI/AAAAAAAAAhE/w7Pu2aEwYUM/s1600/York-20130914-00145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uwrO-OpcDE0/UjcVkiNPDkI/AAAAAAAAAhE/w7Pu2aEwYUM/s320/York-20130914-00145.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Then another hour of 1-1s, a quick dash to my room to shower and change for the gala dinner.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qgkQAh_5RI/UjcVmQbwIAI/AAAAAAAAAhk/lZgZxmzDo9o/s1600/York-20130914-00146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qgkQAh_5RI/UjcVmQbwIAI/AAAAAAAAAhk/lZgZxmzDo9o/s320/York-20130914-00146.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the wonderful <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/">Cloudies</a> who were there. L-R: John Taylor (Johnonceupon), Neil Evans, Katherine Hetzel (Squidge), Sophie Jonas-Hill (Tenacityflux), Mandy Berriman (Skylark) and Imran Siddiq (Flickimp). Don't they scrub up well?</td></tr></tbody></table>&nbsp; <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YstXOw6MwAo/UjcVmnW6u5I/AAAAAAAAAhg/sWO6kKUf15Q/s1600/York-20130914-00147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YstXOw6MwAo/UjcVmnW6u5I/AAAAAAAAAhg/sWO6kKUf15Q/s320/York-20130914-00147.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/NooshHugg">Anouska Huggins</a> and <a href="http://isabelrogers.org/">Isabel Rogers</a> with essential props</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Inevitably, the absence of <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/harry-bingham-author.html">Harry Bingham</a> was keenly felt though not everyone knew the reason why he wasn't there this year. It was up to me to get up on stage, welcome everyone and introduce Harry's virtual contribution to FoW13 - a video that left everyone sniffling. You can see the reason why <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/members/profile/5/blog-view/blog_7136.html">here</a>. (Warning: have a box of tissues close by.)<br /><br />While on stage, I also tried to link people together so the net wouldn't be rattling for weeks after with people regretting they hadn't linked up. Stand up the <a href="http://writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/">WordClouders</a>, Tweeters, <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">online self-edit course</a> grads and contributors to <a href="http://storiesforhomes.wordpress.com/">Stories for Homes</a>. This also gave me the opportunity to thank the awesome <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/About-us.html">Writers' Workshop Dream Team:</a> Laura, Nikki, Deborah and Lydia for their mega organisational skills. They made it look easy. It's not. My bad though for not publicly thanking <a href="https://twitter.com/SkfWriter">Susan Franklin</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Clem1000">Mark Clementson</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/emhanns">Ellen Hanns</a> for running the 1-1s with their usual iron-hand-in-velvet-glove-ness. I hope they know how much they're appreciated for their efficiency, warmth, support and unflappability. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kiNvD6Dwp2c/UjcVnKLf3sI/AAAAAAAAAhc/xXGHlWmORaE/s1600/York-20130914-00149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kiNvD6Dwp2c/UjcVnKLf3sI/AAAAAAAAAhc/xXGHlWmORaE/s320/York-20130914-00149.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/johkat">Kate Johnson </a>(johkat) was the very popular winner of the Opening Chapter competition. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sp5__E56FIQ/UjcVo8lj8yI/AAAAAAAAAh0/ickZ9-eyf1k/s1600/York-20130914-00150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sp5__E56FIQ/UjcVo8lj8yI/AAAAAAAAAh0/ickZ9-eyf1k/s320/York-20130914-00150.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No caption necessary.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xbI4r0hnU9k/UjctEzXaiCI/AAAAAAAAAiE/MNvn6PQmxpI/s320/York-20130914-00152.jpg" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Angelo (Athelstone)</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-43e1v0LIBa8/UjctE9Q9I0I/AAAAAAAAAiI/f5Kw1Byqm58/s320/York-20130914-00151.jpg" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twitter.com/n1kk1h">Nikki Holt</a>, <a href="http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/">Katherine Hetzel</a> and <a href="http://hfkaner.wordpress.com/">Hannah Kaner.</a> proving it's possible to be both glamorous and a writer (and/or organisational tour-de-force, in the case of Nikki).</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Day 3. </b>And so to Sunday. Rain and gale force winds lashed York as I raced over the walkway for two hours of 1-1s, followed by lunch, followed by the final workshop of the weekend: Dialogue. The lecture hall was packed. Brains should theoretically have been fried by a combination of hangovers and too much information crammed into too short a time, but the reverse turned out to be true. Fresh as a whole field of springtime daisies, the dialogue between us all perfectly illustrated the workshop's theme. You all rock!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xbI4r0hnU9k/UjctEzXaiCI/AAAAAAAAAiE/MNvn6PQmxpI/s1600/York-20130914-00152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L3PQHIeIvJo/UjctFURTEjI/AAAAAAAAAiY/UbXuu3GdPys/s1600/York-20130915-00154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L3PQHIeIvJo/UjctFURTEjI/AAAAAAAAAiY/UbXuu3GdPys/s320/York-20130915-00154.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The closing address was by <a href="http://www.sjbolton.com/">S.J Bolton</a>. I was too far away to get a decent photo of her but this was one of the slides she used. I posted it on Twitter and we all agreed it was a faithful representation of what a rejection looks like to those of us with thinner skins than are good for us. Sharon Bolton is known for her gripping horror novels. To me, that slide looks like horror flash fiction.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f9o0HaqSf8U/UjctGLFzOMI/AAAAAAAAAiU/LZaZaNqIol0/s1600/York-20130915-00156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f9o0HaqSf8U/UjctGLFzOMI/AAAAAAAAAiU/LZaZaNqIol0/s320/York-20130915-00156.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I went over to the <a href="http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/editorial/shops/index.jsp?selectShop=editorial/shops/SHOP71.jsp">Blackwell's book stall, </a>where the staff had done their usual sterling job of - um - selling books throughout the weekend, hoping my suitcase would be lighter on the way home. And, whoop-de-whoop, they told me they had sold out of both <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/?page_id=36">Nirvana Bites</a> and <a href="http://www.debialper.co.uk/?page_id=38">Trading Tatiana</a>. Just as well both will be <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/i-have-some-news.html">coming out as e-books</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>And then, all too soon, it was over. Just over fifty hours that felt like weeks, months even. Inside our literary bubble for the weekend, time stretched as we crammed in so much information, so many experiences, such a maelstrom of insights, hugs, laughter and tears. (Yes, there were some of those too.) And a fair bit of alcohol.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Goodbye then #FoW13. You've been a blast. Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and everyone of you. You're all stars. Forward to FoW14.</div><br />http://debialper.blogspot.com/2013/09/fow13-day-after-weekend-before.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21629015.post-3709825410166782157Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:19:00 +00002013-09-12T18:31:16.724+00:00Festival of Writing. York 2013It's all happening. Over <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/events.html">the coming weekend</a>, I'll be in York, running a 4 hour mini course, 3 workshops, 24 Book Doctor sessions, chairing a genre panel and dispensing lots of writerly warmth. <br /><br />I was pretty rubbish at my attempts to live blog the festival last year, but you can get a flavour <a href="http://debialper.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00Z&amp;updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&amp;max-results=9">here</a>. (Scroll down.) Then, of course, there's the Festie 2012 book, available <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BFXK4T8/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb">here</a>. Given that my schedule this year is even more packed than last time, I make no promises to live blog but I'll do my best. If you can't make it to York and would like to find another way to improve your writing, you might be interested in the <a href="http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/Self-Editing.html">6 week online self-edit course</a> I run with <a href="http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting">Emma Darwin</a>. Next one starts 22nd October. <br /><br />See you when I see you. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, the hashtag is #FoW13.http://debialper.blogspot.com/2013/09/festival-of-writing-york-2013.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Debi)1